Paris Saint-Germain blew their chance to move top of Ligue 1 after being held to a 1-1 draw away to Lille this evening.
There was a lively start to the evening as both goalkeepers were tested early on, Divock Origi firing a warning shot for the hosts before Ezequiel Lavezzi came close for the champions.
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PSG almost edged their noses in front with 11 minutes on the clock as Lavezzi's menacing corner found its way to Edinson Cavani in the box, but the Uruguayan shot over from a tight angle.
Cavani proved a handful for the Lille defence, and he came close again in the 21st minute, narrowly missing the top corner after collecting a pass from Maxwell.
Laurent Blanc's side asked all of the questions, threatening again in the 26th minute as Thiago Silva headed over from close range, and they forced the breakthrough they deserved in the 29th minute.
Lavezzi linked up well with Cavani, picking out his teammate in the Lille area with a deft pass, and the striker tucked an effort into the bottom corner from close range.
There was an unexpected turn of events with half time approaching as PSG goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu fumbled a corner into his own net to gift Lille an equaliser against the run of play.
The home side applied some pressure of their own after the break, threatening in the early stages of the second period through Simon Kjaer and Nolan Roux, the latter forcing a good save out of Sirigu.
Lille were more convincing all round in the second half, and they almost had their noses in front in the 69th minute when Roux's effort from outside the box tested PSG's Italian goalkeeper at full stretch.
PSG also began to create chances as the second half wore on, Lille goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama producing saves of his own to deny Cavani and Lucas in quick succession and maintain the stalemate.
The result leaves the French champions one point behind Marseille in the table after 16 matches.
Mark Langshaw
