Ten-man PSG beat Lille in first match of season

Ten-man Paris Saint-Germain beat Lille 1-0 at the Stade Pierre Mauroy to get their defence of their Ligue 1 title off to a winning start.

Lucas Moura netted the only goal of the match on 57 minutes, rounding Lille goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama from Blaise Matuidi's defence-splitting pass following a fine lay-off from the otherwise anonymous Edison Cavani.

PSG head coach Laurent Blanc will be particularly encouraged by the performance of his back four, with full-backs Maxwell and Serge Aurier outstanding after the French champions were reduced to ten men before the half-hour mark following the dismissal of midfielder Adrien Rabiot for two bookable offences.

PSG were without new signing Angel di Maria, who watched on from the stands following the completion of his €63m move from Manchester United on Thursday, and talismanic striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and Blanc will have noted how blunted his side were in attack without his star men.

Both Cavani and Javier Pastore struggled against Lille defenders Ibrahim Amadou and Renato Civelli, and Blanc opted to substitute Pastore at half-time after an opening 45 minutes of little labour and even less invention.

For new Lille boss Herve Renard, there will be disappointment at the way his side faded after a bright opening 45 minutes, especially given the man advantage his team enjoyed for over an hour of the match.

2' – CHANCE! Good searching long ball finds Cavani in the area, but the Argentine is bundled off the ball by Djibril Sidibe and Lucas Moura is unable to make anything of the follow up.

7'- PENALTY SHOUT! Blaise Matuidi feeds Cavani down the centre and the Argentine rounds the goalkeeper but then goes down under a soft challenge from Benjamin Pavard. No penalty, no yellow for diving either.

13' – CHANCE! Amadou is across to block a cross from the right from Serge Aurier in front of Cavani. Rabiot then sees a near post header sail over the bar.

28' – RED CARD! Rabiot pulls back Corchia down the right - he is already on a yellow card...and he gets a second and a red card!

58'- GOAL! Lille 0-1 Paris Saint-Germain. Lucas Moura rounds Enyeama following a lovely lay-off from Cavani and then an angled through ball to him through the centre from Matuidi.

77' – CHANCE! The free-kick evades the stretching Cavani, with Aurier also close to getting a touch as the Lille offside trap fails miserably.

90'+3 – CHANCE! Luiz drills a quick free-kick down the right to Augustin, who cuts the ball back to Cavani, but Pavard manages to block from close range!

PSG's victory was their first opening-day win since 2010, when they beat St Etienne 3-1.

Lille's defeat was only the second time they have lost their opening-day fixture in 13 years.

PSG have now won their last ten league games, their best run ever in the top-flight of French football.

Maxwell (Paris Saint-Germain) The Brazilian has a fine pedigree, having played with Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Ajax, Internazionale, Barcelona and now Paris Saint-Germain, but the 33-year-old has often caught the attention at left-back more for his attacking threat than for his defensive discipline.

He had to play for an over an hour against Lille without his usual left midfielder to support him, following Adrien Rabiot's first-half sending-off, but he barely allowed Ryan Mendes a kick in the second half with his superb positional play and reading of the game.

PLAYER RATINGS

Lille: Enyeama 7, Corchia 6, Civelli 7, Amadou 7, Sidibe 6, Balmont 7, Mavuba 6, Pavard 7, Boufal 7, Guirassy 6, Bautheac 7. Subs: Mendes 7, Tallo 6, Obbadi 6.

Paris Saint-Germain: Trapp 7, Aurier 8, Maxwell 9, Luiz 7, Silva 7, Matuidi 7, Verratti 7, Rabiot 5, Pastore 5, Lucas 7, Cavani 5. Subs: Motta 7, Stambouli 7, Augustin 7.