Marseille and Lyon both missed the chance to move firmly into the Ligue 1 title race as they shared four goals at the Stade Velodrome.
With Paris St Germain sitting pretty on 49 points in first place, a win for Marseille would have put them to within nine points and a victory for Lyon would have put them eight behind.
But after scoring twice each in an enthralling first half - Benoit Cheyrou and Evanilson Brandao put Marseille ahead before Bafetimbi Gomis and a Souleymane Diawara own goal levelled things up - neither side was able to take all three points.
Paris St Germain maintained their three-point lead at the top of Ligue 1 and their 100 per cent record under Carlo Ancelotti - but were made to work hard by Evian for the second time this season before winning 3-1.
The capital club fought back from 2-0 down to claim a point in the reverse fixture in September and again fell behind to a Cedric Cambon goal on the stroke of half-time.
But PSG stormed back in the second period as Nene scored twice, the second from the penalty spot, and Kevin Gameiro wrapped up the victory two minutes from the end of time.
Geoffrey Dernis struck lucky as Montpellier kept up the pressure on the leaders with a 1-0 victory over Brest.
Dernis may not have known much about it but he scored the winner in the first half as a volley from team-mate Remy Cabella struck him on the back and went past goalkeeper Steeve Elana.
Montpellier, second in the French top flight, remain three points behind the capital aristocrats. But if luck is to favour the underdogs, as it did here, PSG might have cause to be worried.
Bordeaux got back to winning ways with a comfortable 2-0 home win over 10-man Toulouse.
The in-form hosts were held to a goalless draw at lowly Evian last weekend but were quickly on course for a fifth successive home win after Jussie netted in the first minute.
The points were then effectively wrapped up before half-time as Ludovic Obraniak added a second before Toulouse had Moussa Sissoko sent off.
Elsewhere, substitute Esmael Goncalves netted a late equaliser to deny in-form Ajaccio and earn bottom club Nice only their third away point of the season from a 1-1 draw.
Promoted Ajaccio looked on course to record a fifth successive Ligue 1 victory, having previously taken only four points from 12 games, thanks to Eduardo's 57th-minute penalty.
Goncalves had other ideas, though, and he popped up in the 85th minute to salvage his side a draw with a close-range finish following a defensive mix-up.
Lorient's game at St Etienne lasted just 10 minutes before a frozen pitch forced the referee to call the players off.
The match had already been brought forward four hours to a 1400 kick-off in a bid to beat the cold snap, but the icy conditions meant the match was postponed.
Both managers had voiced their disapproval at the game being given the go-ahead and their concerns were quickly realised as one half of the pitch proved unplayable.
"After 10 minutes of play, referee Mr Bastien stopped the match between St Etienne and Lorient due to difficult terrain in one half of the pitch," a statement on the Ligue 1 website read.
Valenciennes claimed their first Ligue 1 away win of the season at the 12th attempt as first-half goals by Renaud Cohade and Gael Danic saw off Dijon.
The result took the visitors above Dijon in the table and meant the hosts, who scored a late consolation through Gregory Thil, have now won just one of their last seven league matches.
Nancy and Rennes battled out a goalless draw at the Stade Marcel Picot in a match brought forward four hours due to adverse weather.
The hosts created the better of the chances but were wasteful in front of goal and did not overly test Rennes keeper Benoit Costil.
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