Paris Saint-Germain win Ligue 1 for third consecutive season

Paris Saint-Germain secured their third Ligue 1 title in as many years with a 2-1 win over Montpellier at the Stade de la Mosson.

Blaise Matuidi opened the scoring by ghosting past the hosts' dog-legged backline and showed exquisite control and a cool head to finish, before Ezequiel Lavezzi's thunderous strike made it 2-0.

PSG did not have everything their own way, though, and Anthony Mounier's cross-cum-shot fooled everyone and sailed past PSG keeper Salvatore Sirigu to make it 2-1 at the interval.

Laurent Blanc's side held firm in the face of mounting pressure in the second half to close out the win and, coupled with a draw for Lyon, open up an unassailable eight-point lead at the top of the standings with one game remaining.

It was all PSG for the first half an hour as the champions-elect came out with the bit between their teeth and hungry to clinch the crown early.

Edinson Cavani had their first chance on goal, but he could only fire inches over the bar after good work from Lavezzi down the left after eight minutes.

The visitors did not have long to wait for the opener though, with Matuidi capping off a fine team move in the 16th minute.

Javier Pastore cut Montpellier's backline apart to slide in Matuidi, who timed his run perfectly to avoid being offside, and his first touch took the ball out of his feet brilliantly before he opened up and showed deadly accuracy to fire past Jonathan Ligali.

Pastore was again involved in the second goal after he released Serge Aurier down the right in the 25th minute, before the Ivorian's low cross was rifled home by Lavezzi.

The Argentinian winger expertly nipped in front of his marker at the near post and his venomous strike gave Montpellier keeper Ligali no chance.

The hosts gave themselves a lifeline six minutes before the break, with Mounier leaving everyone speechless with his fluky strike to halve PSG's advantage.

PSG showed signs of nerves after the interval, with Bryan Dabo and Kevin Berigaud both going close for the hosts, but they came back strongly towards the end.

First Aurier forced a quality finger-tip save from Ligali with 10 minutes remaining and then Pastore clipped the bar from inside the box in the final minute, but it mattered little with PSG easing over the line in the end.