PSG did it again. After going down a goal at home during a subpar first half which drew whistles from the Parc des Princes supporters, PSG’s stars pulled off another come-from-behind home win, 2-1 against defending Ligue 1 champs LOSC Lille, extending its lead atop the standings in France.
Canadian international Jonathan David scored his league-leading eighth goal of the season for a deserved halftime lead for visiting Lille.
Then Angel Di Maria and Neymar turned on the class in the final 15 minutes to help PSG score twice.
Di Maria lofted a perfect cross to captain Marquinhos to equalize, and then Di Maria combined with Neymar on a wall pass and converted the winner in the 88th minute.
The Parisian side pulled off the result without Kylian Mbappe (ear infection), who was sitting up in the stands and then without Lionel Messi, who came off at halftime with what was reported to be a muscle issue.
PSG (10-1-1, 31 points) has a comfortable 10-point lead over second-place Lens, which has a game in hand.
The Parisians next look ahead to a UEFA Champions League group stage match at German side RB Leipzig in midweek, but manager Mauricio Pochettino will still come under heavy scrutiny.
PSG is still not playing well, relying on its superstars time and again to bail it out of sticky situations.
Defending Ligue 1 champs Lille will regret not adding more goals in a dominant first half in which it created multiple opportunities in transition.
Italian goalkeeper Gigi Donnarumma came up with a couple of big saves, Jonathan Ikone missed another, and the midfielders flubbed the passes in other moments.
Lille is now in 11th place, a distant 16 points from PSG. A defence of the title looks farfetched at this point.
Three of PSG’s two-goal wins this season only sealed late on by late goals:
v Montpellier – Draxler ’88
v Brest – Di Maria ’90
v Strasbourg – Sarabia ’86.
