Paris Saint-Germain are on course to retain the Ligue 1 title after taking a 2-1 half-time lead away to Montpellier HSC.

In a frantic start to the game, Ezequiel Lavezzi missed a great chance to set Les Parisiens on their way when he got on the end of a cross from Maxwell, but his unopposed header from close range was off target.

On eight minutes, Edinson Cavani squandered another early chance as he latched onto Hilton's poorly-judged back-pass and, instead of teeing up Blaise Matuidi, the Uruguayan turned before shooting over the bar.

PSG then took the lead on 17 minutes when the home defence was caught napping and Matuidi tucked the ball into the corner of Jonathan Ligali's net.

Midway through the half, the visitors took full control when Lavezzi turned home a cross from Serge Aurier.

On 31 minutes, PSG almost put the match beyond the reach of Montpellier when Cavani created space inside the area to shoot, but was denied by a fingertip save from Ligali.

However, La Paillade managed to pull a goal back five minutes before the interval when Anthony Mounier's miscued cross caught Salvatore Sirigu out as the ball drifted into the back of the net.