League leader Nice held by lowly Metz

Paris - French pacesetter Nice slugged out a 0-0 draw with rock bottom Metz in Ligue 1 on Sunday leaving the door ajar for Monaco to go top if it wins at Marseille in the last of the weekend games.

The result leaves Nice on 45 points ahead of Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain with the Monegasques facing a challenging game at Marseille's raucous Velodrome stadium just along the south coast later Sunday.

Champions Paris were delighted Saturday when new boy Julian Draxler produced a brilliant first-time finish to earn a 1-0 win at Rennes on his Ligue 1 debut.

Nice was playing without arguably its best players as Mario Balotelli was serving out a ban and Younes Belhanda is out injured.

The club's top scorer Alassane Plea, with 10 Ligue 1 goals so far this campaign, had a poor afternoon and hit the post late on with the best chance of the match.

Midfield general Jean-Michel Seri is also away at the Africa Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast.

Despite these absences Metz looked to be a soft opponent and the visitors will be happy with an away point that nevertheless leaves them bottom on goal difference of Ligue 1.