Lille had to settle for a point after being pegged back by Bordeaux tonight, opening the door to the chasing pack in the race for the Ligue 1 title.
The leaders survived fierce early pressure and led through Moussa Sow's strike shortly before the hour mark as they looked to stretch their advantage over Marseille and Lyon. But Vujadin Savic equalised for Les Girondins, who nevertheless slipped below Sochaux to tenth in the table.
Bordeaux had three excellent attempts at opening the scoring inside the first quarter-hour, the first when Anthony Modeste snatched possession from the Lille defence and Jussie rounded keeper Mickael Landreau. He squared to Fahid Ben Khalfallah, who saw his shot hacked off the line.
Florian Marange then returned Adil Rami's clearance with a stunning left-foot volley which was saved at full stretch by Landreau, who then repeated that effort to keep out Modeste's header.
Lille weathered the early storm and could have gone into half-time a goal to the good when Eden Hazard's free-kick was only cleared as far as Florent Balmont, who was just inches off target with a ferocious volley.
They went close again in the early stages of the second period as Yohan Cabaye's shot on the turn was blocked by keeper Cedric Carrasso. Jussie then missed a glorious chance at the other end, volleying wastefully over after being picked out by Mathieu Chalme's cross. And Lille took the lead in the 58th minute as Hazard and Cabaye combined well to set up Sow, who finished calmly with his left foot.
Carrasso made a vital save from Hazard's volley to keep his side in the game and they levelled soon afterwards. Jaroslav Plasil's corner was met at the near post by a superb diving header from defender Savic, leaving Landreau motionless. Another dangerous effort from Balmont was repelled by Carrasso in the closing stages as the sides finished all square.