Pablo Sarabia scored the only goal of the game as Paris Saint-Germain won 1-0 at Bordeaux, though the result was not enough to send them top of Ligue 1.
Without the injured Neymar, the suspended Kylian Mbappe and Moise Kean, who tested positive for coronavirus, the champions were a long way from their best.
However, they survived an underwhelming display against a Bordeaux side in a dismal run of form, Sarabia's 20th-minute strike proving the difference.
The result would have sent PSG back to the top on goal difference had Lille not left it late to win 2-0 against Marseille, which kept them two points clear at the summit.
Sarabia should have done better with PSG's first clear-cut chance in the 17th minute, shooting straight at Benoit Costil from Julian Draxler's pull back.
But he made no mistake three minutes later, taking one touch to control Idrissa Gueye's pass into the box before lashing a left-footed strike into the bottom-right corner.
Bordeaux responded well and Hwang Ui-Jo curled narrowly wide from outside the box, with the South Korean denied a minute into the second half by a scrambling Keylor Navas after the ball came into his path at the far post from a corner.
Danilo Pereira and Marquinhos got in each other's way at the other end, failing to take advantage of Draxler's free-kick after both had been left unmarked.
PSG continued to look vulnerable and were almost undone by a former player when Hatem Ben Arfa powered just past the left-hand post.
And they needed late heroics from Navas to preserve victory, the Costa Rica international diving to his right to keep out Jimmy Briand's stoppage-time header.
Chelsea stay perfect as Man Utd thrash rivals Liverpool
Chelsea maintained their perfect run in the Women's Super League with a 4-2 win over Brighton, while Manchester United thrashed Liverpool 4-0.
On a pulsating day of action that saw 28 goals scored across six matches, United got the action started with their demolition of Liverpool, with four different goalscorers on target.
Quick-fire goals from Elisabeth Terland and Leah Galton gave United a comfortable advantage at the break, before Dominique Janssen curled home the Red Devils' third just before the hour-mark, with the win sealed by substitute Melvine Malard nine minutes from time.
It was a routine win for Marc Skinner's side, who have struggled for consistency in recent weeks, though the United boss said there is still room for improvement.
"I thought we were good. When we don't meet our high standards, we face criticism, but when we do play well, and we're dominant, we deserve the accolades," said Skinner.
"It was a pretty even game up until [the first two goals were scored]. The second half was much more comfortable."
Chelsea are still five points clear at the WSL summit after edging a six-goal thriller against Brighton at Kingsmeadow.
Two goals in five minutes from Sjoeke Nusken and Aggie Beever-Jones put the Blues in control, only for Sonia Bompastor's team to have their lead cut in half before the break by Jelena Cankovic.
Chelsea restored their two-goal advantage six minutes after the restart through Johanna Rytting Kaneryd, but the Seagulls responded once more.
Kiko Seike's finish put the Blues' perfect start under threat in the final 20 minutes, but Chelsea sealed the win in second-half stoppage time, with Nusken on target once again.
Bompastor is now unbeaten in her last 31 games across all competitions (W28 L3), and Sunday's win perhaps should have been won by a more marginal scoreline, while Chelsea have matched the Arsenal side of 2018-19 in winning their first nine WSL games of a campaign. Should they beat Leicester City next week, they will be the first team in the competition's history to reel off 10 victories to start a season.
The Blues registered a mammoth 31 shots, though only eight were on target, accumulating an expected goals (xG) total of 4.08 compared to Brighton's 2.19.
Not wanting to be done by their neighbours or their title rivals, Manchester City also scored four as they comfortably dispatched Leicester 4-0, with Khadija Shaw netting twice.
Shaw gave the hosts a second-minute lead when she nodded in Kerstin Casparij's cross, and doubled her tally before the half-hour mark with a powerful header.
Jessica Park added the Citizens' third four minutes after the break, before Mary Fowler concluded the scoring with a fine volley from close range nine minutes later.
And Gareth Taylor's side were worthy of their victory, restricting Leicester to just three shots on Khiara Keating's goal, while also ending the encounter with 71.7% possession.
There was also another big win for Arsenal, with the Gunners earning a 4-0 win over Aston Villa, with Alessia Russo on target for the fourth consecutive WSL match.
Russo's glancing header from Kyra Cooney-Cross' inswinging free-kick put Arsenal ahead, and Beth Mead doubled their advantage.
Substitute Stina Blackstenius netted the Gunners' third before Russo capped off her double in second half stoppage time, having seen an earlier effort ruled out for offside.
It marked yet another win for interim head coach Renee Slegers, who is now unbeaten in her eight games in charge across all competitions since taking over from Jonas Eidevall.
Sunday's highest scoring fixture took place at the Chigwell Construction Stadium, with West Ham coming from two goals down to beat relegation rivals Crystal Palace 5-2.
Mille Gejl and Indiah-Paige Riley put Palace in control inside 11 minutes, before Viviane Asseyi, Seraina Piubel and Manuela Pavi hit back for the Hammers before the break.
Anouk Denton put West Ham further in front with a fine finish, before Hammers captain Katrina Gorry grabbed an injury-time fifth.
The defeat means Palace have gone 1-0 up in four of their last five league games, but failed to win any of them. No other team has dropped more points from winning positions this term than the Eagles (10).
Tottenham beat Everton 2-1 thanks to Bethany England's brace.
England scored either side of Sara Holmgaard's 40th minute equaliser, sealing Spurs' third win of the campaign, all of which have come at home.
Tottenham 3-4 Chelsea: Palmer penalty double seals comeback for title-chasing Blues
Cole Palmer's penalty double completed a remarkable 4-3 victory over Tottenham as Chelsea cut the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool to four points.
Chelsea thumped nine-man Spurs 4-1 in the corresponding fixture last term but required an almighty comeback as Marc Cucurella's errors gifted the hosts an early 2-0 lead on Sunday.
Dejan Kulusevski's pinpoint finish followed Dominic Solanke's well-taken opener at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, though Jadon Sancho reduced the arrears with a delightful finish with just 17 minutes on the clock.
Palmer levelled just past the hour with his first penalty after Yves Bissouma needlessly felled the marauding Moises Caicedo, who had earlier survived a VAR check for a lunging tackle on Pape Sarr in the first half.
The Chelsea talisman won another spot-kick after Sarr's mindless push, with Palmer coolly drinking beyond Fraser Forster, after Enzo Fernandez had blasted the Blues ahead with 17 minutes remaining.
Son Heung-min’s stoppage-time strike appeared to tee up a nervy ending for Chelsea, though, as the Spurs winger slotted past Robert Sanchez from substitute James Maddison's cutback pass.
However, Enzo Maresca's side held firm to move two points clear of Arsenal in second and make ground on Liverpool, while Spurs sit 11th after a second defeat in the space of three days.
Data Debrief: Chelsea powered by ice-cold Palmer
It seems there is no doubt when Palmer steps up from 12 yards out he will score, as the Chelsea man converted his 11th and 12th penalties in the Premier League on Sunday.
The former Manchester City man has a perfect record from his 12 penalty attempts, the most any player has taken in the competition without ever missing, surpassing Yaya Toure (11).
Palmer has also been directly involved in 38 Premier League goals in 2024 (25 goals, 13 assists), the outright most in a calendar year by a Chelsea player in the competition.
He reached 50 goal involvements (33 goals, 17 assists) in 48 Premier League games for Chelsea here; only Erling Haaland for Man City (39), Andy Cole for Newcastle United (43), and Mohamed Salah for Liverpool (46) have ever reached that total in fewer appearances for a club in England's top competition.
Palmer's heroics saw Tottenham lose an 11th Premier League game after having been two or more goals ahead – at least four more such defeats than any other side in Premier League history.
Proteas five wickets away from Sri Lanka series whitewash
South Africa closed in on a series whitewash of Sri Lanka on day four of the second Test in Gqeberha.
The Proteas require five wickets to complete a 2-0 win over the tourists, who need 143 runs to level the series at St George's Oval.
South Africa resumed at 191-3 on Sunday, Temba Bavuma (66) and Tristan Stubbs (47) led their charge as they continued at the crease.
David Bedingham added 35 as the hosts took their second-innings total to 317, with only Prabath Jayasuriya's five-wicket haul stopping them in their tracks.
That left Sri Lanka a target of 348, but South Africa took full advantage of the new balls, with Dimuth Karunaratne (1), Pathum Nissanka (18) and Dinesh Chandimal (29) all dismissed.
Angelo Matthews (32) and Kamindu Mendis (35) also went, though an unbroken 83-run stand between Dhananjaya de Silva and Kusal Mendis steadied the ship to give Sri Lanka hope of completing an almighty turnaround.
Data Debrief: Jayasuriya into double figures in just 18th Test
Bavuma led by example for South Africa once more, with his fourth successive contribution of 50 or more.
Jayasuriya's five-wicket haul to halt the Proteas' progress was his 10th in just 18 Tests, and his first outside Sri Lanka.
The tourists' hopes are not over yet, but they must create history to level the contest. Indeed, no team has previously completed a chase of more than 271 runs at St George's Oval.
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