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A superb winner from Brazilian Tulio De Melo ensured Le Mans continued their dream return to the top flight with a 2-1 win over Sochaux on Saturday.
Frédéric Hantz's men made it three wins on the trot and climbed above Paris Saint-Germain into second spot on the Ligue 1 table behind quadruple champions Lyon.
Le Mans made the brighter start of the two sides but it wasn't until nearly half-an-hour of play that the homeside finally drew a save from Sochaux custodian Teddy Richert.
The visitors 'keeper did well to keep out James Fanchone's stinging effort after 28 minutes but could only watch as Yohan Hautcoeur logically opened the scoring two minutes later from Daisuke Matsui's brilliant cross.
Sochaux Coach Dominique Bijotat through on Brazilian striker Araujo Ilan on 57 minutes in a bid to offer Moumouni Dagano more support in attack and the move paid off six minutes later when the two combined in the Le Mans box to offer Ilan his third goal of the campaign.
The goal also spelled the end of Le Mans 'keeper Yohan Pelé's invincible run of 544 minutes.
However, the visitors joy was shortlived, as De Melo's spectacular scissor-kick at the front post from Fanchone's 69th minute cross restored the hosts' lead. The Brazilian jumps to the top of the goalscorers' charts, level with PSG's Pedro Pauleta on four goals apiece.
Both Matsui and Fanchone could have settled the contest before the final whistle but Richert produced two more top-drawer saves.
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