Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Paris St Germain vs LOSC Lille - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - December 9, 2017 Paris Saint-Germain’s Julian Draxler in action with Lille’s Kevin Malcuit REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
(Reuters) - Paris St Germain shrugged off two consecutive defeats to beat Lille 3-1 in Ligue 1 on Saturday and open a 12-point lead at the top of the standings.
PSG lost in their previous league match against Strasbourg last Saturday, and then came undone against Bayern Munich in the Champions League in midweek.
However, they led through Angel Di Maria's 28th minute opener at the Parc des Princes and Javier Pastore doubled their advantage four minutes after the break. Anwar El Ghazi pulled one back for Lille before Kylian Mbappe struck in stoppage time.
Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Paris St Germain vs LOSC Lille - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - December 9, 2017 Paris Saint-Germain’s Javier Pastore in action with Lille’s Junior Alonso REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
Without the suspended Neymar, Mbappe was the catalyst for much of PSG's better work and it was his cross that allowed Di Maria to break the deadlock with a header.
It was PSG's only effort on goal in the first half but they added to their lead shortly after halftime when a counter-attack ended with Di Maria teeing up Pastore to score.
Lille were still a threat and El Ghazi capitalised on some mistakes in the home side's defence to score with three minutes of normal time remaining.
Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Paris St Germain vs LOSC Lille - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - December 9, 2017 Paris Saint-Germain’s Angel Di Maria celebrates scoring their first goal with Marquinhos REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
Mbappe sealed victory for PSG with a lightning fast run up the field and composed finish into an empty net after Lille goalkeeper Mike Maignan had gone up for a corner.
The result left Lille still waiting for a first victory over the capital club since 1996.
Monaco can cut the gap to nine points later on Saturday if they beat Troyes, while Olympique Lyon and Olympique Marseille can also get to within nine of the leaders on Sunday.
Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Paris St Germain vs LOSC Lille - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - December 9, 2017 Paris Saint-Germain’s Marco Verratti in action with Lille’s Thiago Maia and Edgar Ie REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Paris St Germain vs LOSC Lille - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - December 9, 2017 Paris Saint-Germain’s Angel Di Maria celebrates scoring their first goal with Marquinhos REUTERS/Benoit TessierSoccer Football - Ligue 1 - Paris St Germain vs LOSC Lille - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - December 9, 2017 Paris Saint-Germain’s Javier Pastore in action with Lille’s Adama Soumaoro REUTERS/Benoit TessierSoccer Football - Ligue 1 - Paris St Germain vs LOSC Lille - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - December 9, 2017 Paris Saint-Germain’s Javier Pastore in action with Lille’s Edgar Ie REUTERS/Benoit TessierSoccer Football - Ligue 1 - Paris St Germain vs LOSC Lille - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - December 9, 2017 Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappe in action with Lille’s Boubakary Soumare REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
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