Traore struck twice in the first half and Maxwell Cornet wrapped up the win late on to take Lyon to 75 points with two games left, one ahead of third-placed Monaco who won 2-1 away with a Moussa Sylla double at Caen, who finished with 10 men.
The most dramatic game was played at Metz who lost 2-1 and were relegated after conceding two stoppage-time goals to Angers. The defeat left the hosts on 26 points, eight adrift of Toulouse in the relegation playoff spot with two games left. Toulouse suffered a 3-2 defeat at home to Lille who moved up to 16th on 35 points, leaving their victims in 18th with 34.
At Lyon’s Groupama stadium, Traore scored in the 28th minute with a clever back heel and doubled their tally seven minutes later, heading home from Ferland Mendy’s cross. The result left Troyes in 19th place, two points behind the relegation playoff spot.
Monaco’s Sylla opening the scoring in the 13th minute against Caen after Rony Lopes’ shot bounced off the post. But the hosts hit back five minutes from the break as Ivan Santini curled a superb shot into the top corner. Caen had goalkeeper Romain Genevois sent off after 77 minutes for a foul on Jordi Mboula as he raced towards goal. The Normandy side cracked one minute into added time as Sylla scored from close range after a poor clearance by Remy Vercoutre. Later last night, fourth-placed Olympique de Marseille could move within a point of Monaco by beating visiting Nice. The top three teams qualify for the Champions League. Paris St Germain, who have already won the title, were held to a 2-2 draw at Amiens on Friday.
French Ligue 1 results
Saint-Etienne 1 (Cabella 28-pen) Bordeaux 3 (Sankhare 29, Kounde 36, Malcom 90+5); Lyon 3 (Traore 28, 35, Cornet 88) Troyes 0; Toulouse 2 (Jean 9, Jullien 44) Lille 3 (Pepe 5, 82, Bissouma 80); Nantes 0 Montpellier 2 (Dolly 51, Mbenza 63); Metz 1 (Mollet 20) Angers 2 (Pavlovic 90+2, Tait 90+4); Caen 1 (Santini 40) Monaco 2 (Sylla 12, 90+1); Dijon 3 (Kwon 34, Yambere 65, Sliti 90+1) Guingamp 1 (Eboa Eboa 57); Rennes 2 (Bourigeaud 14-pen, Hunou 59) Strasbourg 1 (Lienard 66)
Played Friday: Amiens 2 (Konate 47, 80) Paris SG 2 (Cavani 26, Nkunku 64)