Bordeaux midfielder Jussie Feirreira Vieira, centre, breaks away from Montpellier's Geoffrey Dernis, left, and Joris Marveaux. (Pascal Guyot/AFP/Getty Images)

Bordeaux edged Montpellier 1-0 on Wednesday thanks to a goal from Brazilian forward Jussie to consolidate first place in the French league.

The defending champion claimed its sixth straight win in all competitions to top the standings with 37 points from 17 matches, six clear of second-place Marseille.

"We bring back three points that allow us to assert our first place," Jussie said.

Jussie outpaced Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa and then fired the ball past Montpellier goalkeeper Geoffrey Jourdren in the 58th minute for the only goal of the game.

Earlier, Montpellier forward Victor Hugo Montano powered a header into the net in the third minute, but his effort was disallowed for an offside.

France playmaker Yoann Gourcuff had his penalty saved by Jourdren in the 30th after a player in the Montpellier wall had raised his arm to protect his face and handled a free kick from Gourcuff.

"In the first half, we didn't show our true face," Jussie said. "Fortunately, we succeeded in playing our game in the second half.

"[Coach Laurent Blanc] gave us some instructions, and we managed to react. He told me to run at and skip past opponents. That's what I tried to do."

For Montpellier, it was its first home defeat, and it slipped to third place with 30 points.

Also Wednesday, it was: Lorient 1, Marseille 2; Lyon 2, Boulogne 0; Monaco 1, Rennes 0; Paris Saint-Germain 1, Lens 1; Nancy 2, Nice 0; and Le Mans 1, Grenoble 0.

Ayew makes French league debut

In Lorient, Marama Vahirua notched his seventh goal this season by converting a penalty kick in the 53rd after Argentina defender Gabriel Heinze had tripped Morgan Amalfitano.

But Jordan Ayew, the 18-year-old son of former Ghana star Abedi Pele, levelled for Marseille in the 68th off a low cross from Bakari Kone. Ayew was making his debut in the French league.

"It's a very special day for me," Ayew said. "I'll celebrate it with my family and players from the [soccer] academy.

Senegal defender Souleymane Diawara gave Marseille the victory, heading home a cross from Argentina midfielder Lucho Gonzalez in the second minute of stoppage time.

"They scored on a penalty so we were a bit gutted," Diawara told the club's website. "But we felt that we could come back in that match. We kept believing, and [15] minutes later we equalized. Then, we absolutely wanted to take three points and keep pace with Bordeaux."

In Lyon, the seven-time champion overcame a hostile crowd to snap a five-game winless streak in the league and stay in the title race.

"It's tough to play in such conditions," Lyon centre back Maxime Gonalons said on the club's website. "We tried to stay united on the pitch when the crowd expressed its discontent."

Boulogne goalkeeper Jean-François Bedenik stopped a shot from Brazilian winger Michel Bastos in the 72nd, but Bosnia playmaker Miralem Pjanic followed up and placed the ball out of Bedenik's reach.

Argentine forward Cesar Delgado scored into an empty net after a pass from substitute Yannis Tafer in the 91st to seal the win.

Lyon was jeered by its own fans at the Gerland stadium from kickoff to the final whistle despite the victory.

"We feel sad because we need the fans to be with us," Bastos said. "We understand the fans. But in such moments, everybody, both players and fans, must get together to lift heads up. We need everybody."

The home team climbed to fourth place with 29 points while Boulogne remained in the relegation zone with 12 points.

PSG in eighth place

In Monaco, Sebastien Puygrenier redirected a free kick from Nene toward the far post where South Korea forward Park Chu-Young slammed the ball home in the 20th.

Mid-table Monaco has 25 points, one less than Rennes.

In Paris, Claude Makelele played a one-two with Turkey forward Mevlut Erding to open the scoring for the hosts in the 70th.

But Toifilou Maoulida chested down a cross from Sebastien Roudet to equalize from close range for Lens in the 74th.

PSG rose to eighth place with 26 points while Lens stayed in 14th place with 22 points.

In Nancy, Julien Feret chested down a cross from Youssouf Hadji to volley into the top corner in the 50th.

Three minutes later, Hadji hit the post, but Congo midfielder Chris Malonga converted the rebound.

Nancy moved into 13th place with 23 points while Nice suffered its fourth straight loss to stay in 16th place with 20 points.

In Le Mans, Norway forward Thorstein Helstad skipped past a Grenoble defender to fire home a low diagonal shot in the 7th.

Le Mans moved out of the relegation zone in 17th place with 15 points.

Auxerre was held at Valenciennes in a goalless draw on Tuesday.

Those matches were initially scheduled for Oct. 28, but the French league rescheduled them to this week to help France prepare better for its World Cup playoff against Ireland.