After Neymar was sent off, Edinson Cavani stepped up for league leader Paris Saint-Germain with an injury-time free kick to salvage a 2-2 draw Sunday at rival Marseille.
Cavani won the foul after being knocked over by forward Bouna Sarr, and curled the ball in off the underside of the crossbar with goalkeeper Steve Mandanda slightly slow to cover.
"It's an important goal," Cavani said of his ninth goal of the season. "It was difficult to play here in a tough atmosphere."
Cavani took the free kick because Neymar, the world's most expensive player when he joined from Barcelona for 222 million euros ($260 million), picked up a second yellow card in the 87th minute. Neymar will be suspended for Friday's home match against Nice.
The Brazil striker reacted angrily to a challenge from behind from lucas Ocampos, and sent the Argentine winger tumbling to the ground at Stade Velodrome in retribution.
SURPRISE
Nice is the surprise team of the French league once again, this time for the wrong reasons.
Having finished third last season, losing only four games, Nice slumped to its sixth defeat of the campaign with a 2-1 home loss to Strasbourg.
Cape Verde striker Nuno Da Costa scored in each half for Strasbourg.
DEPAY'S DAY
Memphis Depay sealed his hat trick with a Panenka-style penalty, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way as lyon cruised to a 5-0 win at Troyes.
The Netherlands forward earned the penalty in the 70th. Depay first scored with a neat finish four minutes into the second half and netted his second midway through it.