Edinson Cavani goal gives Paris St Germain victory at Lille

Edinson Cavani netted the only goal of the game as PSG moved up to second in Ligue 1, three points behind leaders Nice, with a 1-0 victory at Lille.

Cavani's strike was his 10th league goal of the season and came after 65 minutes as he was set up by Angel Di Maria.

PSG had dominated the match with Cavani, Di Maria and Lucas Moura all failing to take chances to make the scoreline more comfortable. Lille did not create enough goal-scoring opportunities to really challenge for the three points and stay 16th in the table, level on points with third-bottom Caen.

The pattern of the match was set early on with Lille happy to sit back and let PSG have possession, hoping to hit them on the counter attack.

The home side looked fairly comfortable for the first 15 minutes and went close to opening the scoring when Adama Soumaoro's flick header from a corner went just past the right post.

That close call seemed to wake PSG up and for the rest of the half they created chances at will.

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The first came after 18 minutes when Lille goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama first kept out Di Maria's effort before denying Cavani from the rebound.

Lille were still dangerous though and came back at PSG immediately with Sebastien Corchia firing in a shot from 25 yards which away goalkeeper Alphonse Areola did well to get down and save.

Four minutes later PSG thought they had taken the lead when Di Maria brought down a through ball and beat Enyeama at the second attempt, but the goal was ruled out by the assistant referee who deemed the Argentinian had controlled the ball with his hand.

Undeterred, PSG continued to attack with Di Maria's pace setting up Lucas after 27 minutes but his effort was tame, allowing Enyeama to gather. Di Maria was provider again six minutes later, this time from a corner, finding Layvin Kurzawa free 12 yards out but his header went over the bar.

The best chance of the half though came three minutes before the break when great build-up play from Lucas and Di Maria allowed Cavani the freedom of the penalty area but he inexplicably ballooned his shot over.

After half-time PSG continued to create opportunities and miss them, with Cavani and Lucas both firing efforts just wide.

With an hour gone and the score still 0-0 it started to look like another frustrating night for PSG after they failed to score in their last Ligue 1 outing.

However, midway through the second half they finally made the breakthrough with main man Cavani netting the all-important goal. Found in the centre of the penalty area by Di Maria, the Uruguayan controlled the ball on his chest before lashing a left-footed shot into the top of the net.

PSG continued their dominance after the goal but with the lead slim there was still hope for Lille and they almost equalised eight minutes from time. Eder's pace took him to the byline on the left side before he fired the ball across goal, Younousse Sankhare was waiting at the far post but seemed surprised by the weight of the cross and could only divert his effort wide.