Marseille were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw by Lyon in Ligue 1 action on Sunday while Zlatan Ibrahimovic found himself embroiled in controversy as Paris Saint-Germain crashed 3-2 at Bordeaux.
Ibrahimovic had equalised twice for Laurent Blanc's side, who remain in the hunt for four trophies, but Diego Rolan popped up in the 89th minute to steer the ball home when the central defence collapsed.
Sweden's Ibrahimovic took exception to some of the decisions made by referee Lionel Jaffredo and cut a furious figure at the final whistle when he stormed down the tunnel.
"In 15 years, I have never seen such a referee. In this s*** country, this country does not deserve PSG. We are too good for this country" the striker blasted in English at the final whistle.
The striker later apologised for his remarks.
"I would like to apologise if anyone felt offended. I want to make it clear that my remarks were not directed at France or the French. I was talking about football, I lost the match and I accept that but I don't accept when the referee does not follow the rules.
"I expressed myself when I was upset and everyone knows that in these moments, the words surpass the meaning." Ibrahimovic said in a statement to AFP.
Lyon move two points clear of defending champions PSG while Marseille remain four points adrift of the pacesetters.
At the Velodrome in front of a hostile record capacity crowd, a match that featured the league's two top goalscorers in Lyon's Alexandre Lacazette and Marseille's Andre-Pierre Gignac failed to produce a goal despite a fiery encounter.
Gignac hit the post with 20 minutes left while Argentine Lucas Ocampos had a goal correctly disallowed late on as Marseille came up agonisingly short in their bid to bridge the gap on Hubert Fournier's league leaders.
Earlier on Sunday, Belgian teenager Divock Origi, who hadn't scored for six months, helped himself to a hat-trick in Lille's 3-0 mauling of Rennes.
The win lifts Rene Girard's side up to eighth place while Rennes slip into the lower half of the table.
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