Paris Saint-Germain 3 Lille 1: Emery’s December blues eased

PSG goalkeeper Alphonse Areola had to be alert at the other end to sweep up Yassine Benzia's throughball and thwart the advancing Ezequiel Ponce in a rare bright moment for the visitors.

But it was Emery's men who broke the deadlock, Di Maria nodding home emphatically from Mbappe's delivery, although the Monaco loanee appeared to be offside when he gained possession.

A large section of the home crowd thought provider had turned goalscorer a few minutes later, but Mbappe's driven strike flew just wide and rebounded against the back of the net.

The second goal did arrive early in the second half at the end of a quick-thinking move involving Edinson Cavani and Di Maria, with Pastore the man to provide the finish after Lille had carelessly conceded possession in their own half. 

Pastore looked to be in on goal again as the game ticked into its final third, but Adama Soumaoro recovered well to deny the Argentine, who tumbled to the floor holding his face despite minimal contact.

Having made a telling contribution, Di Maria was withdrawn late on and Julian Draxler brought on in his place, while Mbappe was denied after Mike Maignan pushed the France international's shot onto his right-hand upright.

The game was awoken from its torpor by a surprise Lille goal, which arrived after Marquinhos gifted the ball away and El Ghazi profited to slot home.

With Lille pushing for an unlikely equaliser, Maignan came up for a corner and PSG countered at pace, Mbappe finishing into the empty net.