Lyon slip to Ligue 1 loss at Brest
Monaco's draw at Nantes and Lille's stalemate with Auxerre on Friday gave Lyon a chance to climb from fifth into the third and final automatic Champions League spot.
But Brest, who are in the top eight of this season's Champions League table, bounced back from last weekend's loss to Angers to move six points clear of the bottom three.
Mahdi Camara gave Brest an eighth-minute lead, following in to score after Ludovic Ajorque's shot was saved by Lyon goalkeeper Lucas Perri.
Ajorque doubled the hosts' advantage in the 25th minute with his fifth Ligue 1 goal of the campaign.
The striker burst onto Camara's brilliant flicked pass to fire a low strike into the bottom corner.
Jordan Veretout pulled one back in first-half added time to give Lyon hope of a comeback.
But the away side could not find an equaliser in the second period, with Alexandre Lacazette going closest to grabbing a point when his header was kept out by Brest goalkeeper Marco Bizot.
Later Saturday, second-placed Marseille bid to cut the gap to league leaders Paris Saint-Germain, who host Saint-Etienne on Sunday, to four points when they visit Rennes.