Marseille moved back into second in Ligue 1 on Sunday, despite conceding a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw at lowly Troyes.
Jorge Sampaoli’s men had dropped to third behind Nice after their top-three rivals’ 0-0 draw at Strasbourg on Saturday.
Marseille are now 15 points adrift of runaway leaders Paris Saint-Germain.
OM were far from their best at Troyes, creating little but led for the majority of the match after Payet’s 28th-minute spot-kick, which he smashed into the top corner.
But Troyes struck back in the 90th minute, substitute Yoann Touzghar netting from close range.
The point dragged Troyes from the bottom of the table to outside the relegation zone.
Elsewhere, Monaco’s European hopes suffered another setback with a late collapse in a 2-1 home loss to Reims, with teenager Nathanael Mbuku scoring an injury-time winner.
Bordeaux remain at the foot of the table after a 1-1 draw at fellow strugglers Clermont, while Lens moved up to sixth by winning 2-1 at Angers.
On Saturday, PSG had continued their romp towards the title with a 3-1 victory over Saint-Etienne.
AFP
