PSG hit Lille Euro hopes

PSG celebrated their title triumph with a 3-1 victory at 10-man Lille whose Champions League hopes took a hit.

Paris St Germain celebrated their Ligue 1 title triumph with a 3-1 victory at 10-man Lille that leaves Les Dogues worrying about their Champions League place. Laurent Blanc's PSG retained the French championship in midweek despite losing at home to Rennes and atoned for the muted festivities by producing a winning performance at Stade Pierre-Mauroy. After Marvin Martin saw red for the hosts following his crunching challenge on Yohan Cabaye, Marquinhos opened the scoring shortly before half-time. Lucas Moura and Blaise Matuidi put the champions out of sight with second-half goals but Jonathan Delaplace would pull a goal back for Lille at the death. Yet when the dust had settled, Lille found their grip on third place had slipped as rivals St Etienne had closed to within two points of snatching their Champions League berth by beating Nantes 3-1. Zlatan Ibrahimovic failed to score in Lille but came close in the eighth minute having been put through by Lucas. As the first half progressed PSG grew in confidence and nearly found the target through Cabaye, whose effort on Javier Pastore's pass was stopped in the top corner by Vincent Enyeama. It would be Cabaye's last contribution as he was soon forced off injured by a uncompromising tackle from Martin that earned the Lille midfielder his marching orders. The capital club exploited the extra space to break the deadlock four minutes before the break. Freed in the area by Ibrahimovic, Lucas tested Enyeama with a right-footed strike and Marquinhos was ready to head home the rebound with the keeper sprawled out on the ground. Lille enjoyed three solid chances when play resumed, Florent Balmont first stinging Salvatore Sirigu's palms with a free-kick before picking out Marko Basa for a header which darted over. The third chance resembled the second and this time Basa found the target, but also Sirigu's gloves. PSG pushed on and moved two goals clear as Lucas slotted the ball away at the end of a counter-attacking move started by Ezequiel Lavezzi in the 65th minute. The Brazilian turned provider eight minutes from time, his through-ball to Matuidi meeting the Frenchman's run and ending up in the back of the net. PSG now had a victory to place alongside their latest title win but substitute Delaplace did his best to take the shine off the evening with a finish that caught Sirigu by surprise on the stroke of full-time.