Giroud opened the scoring in the 49th minute and, after Abdoul Camara had equalised six minutes from time, struck twice more late on.

The win lifts Montpellier three points clear of Paris St Germain, who face a tricky trip to rivals Marseille tomorrow.

Lille are third in the table after a 2-0 home win over Brest, with Dimitri Payet (11) and Moussa Sow (88) scoring the goals.

Rennes are fourth on goal difference after a penalty from Julien Feret three minutes from time saw them come from behind to beat Evian 3-2.

Feret opened the scoring after nine minutes with a fine individual strike before goals by Cedric Barbosa and Daniel Wass gave the visitors a 2-1 half-time lead.

Youssouf Hadji equalised with less than 15 minutes remaining and the game appeared to be heading for a draw until Olivier Sorlin handled the ball in the penalty area and Feret converted.

Rennes were reduced to 10 men when Jean Armel Kana Biyik was sent off with a minute left.

High-flying Toulouse continued their strong form with a comfortable home win against Valenciennes, with Paulo Machado and Antoine Devaux scoring the decisive goals in each half.

St Etienne piled more misery on basement side Ajaccio with a 3-1 win thanks to goals from Max-Alain Gradel, Florent Sinama-Pongolle and Banel Nicolita.

The first-half dismissal of Leyti N'Diaye did little to help Ajaccio, although they managed to get on the scoresheet through Fousseni Diawara.

Bordeaux claimed their first home win in Ligue 1 this season and lifted themselves out of the relegation zone after a spirited performance against Caen.

Yoan Gouffran and Anthony Modeste scored for Les Girondins in the second half to secure a first win in eight games.

Nancy were brought down to earth with a bump after the euphoria of last weekend's win over PSG as unfancied Dijon ran out 2-1 victors at Stade Marcel Picot.

Younousse Sankhare hit the winner seven minutes from full-time. Eric Bautheac had earlier fired Dijon ahead from the penalty spot before Nancy pulled level through Djamel Bakar.