Payet's equaliser came in the 41st minute after Amine Gouiri gave Nice the lead.

Third-place Nice - who are nine points behind French top-flight leaders Paris Saint-Germain - maintained their one-point edge over Marseille.

Nice hosted the game on a neutral ground and without fans at the Stade de l'Aube in Troyes because of the crowd trouble that forced the match to be abandoned in August - also resulting in the club being handed a two-point penalty, with one suspended.

The better team in the early stages, Nice took the lad after just six minutes when Gouiri connected with a cross from Evann Guessand and slotted home, with the ball going in off the inside of the post.

A promising striker, the 21-year-old Gouiri has found the next six times in 11 matches this season.

Marseille gradually got into the game and enjoyed long spells of sterile possession until Payet put the teams level with a low shot from the penalty area.

Striker Arkadiusz Milik cleverly let a cross roll past him, allowing Payet to finish.

The second half was balanced, with both teams struggling to create clear-cut chances.

Australian Associated Press