PSG warm up for Chelsea clash with Lille draw
A much-changed Paris Saint-Germain warmed up for their Champions League showdown with Chelsea with a low-key goalless draw at home to struggling Lille at the Parc des Princes on Saturday. Edinson Cavani had the best chance for the runaway Ligue 1 leaders but somehow missed the target with the goal gaping in the second half. The result ended a run of 16 consecutive wins in all competitions but it did allow Laurent Blanc's side to extend their record-breaking unbeaten run in Ligue 1 to 35 matches and left them still undefeated domestically since March last year. Lille will be delighted with a point that boosts their fight against relegation, but this was a Paris side missing top scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic, captain Thiago Silva, Thiago Motta and Maxwell. That quartet were all rested with one eye on Tuesday's last-16, first leg at home to an improving Chelsea, and Blanc made eight changes altogether to the side that beat Lyon 3-0 in the French Cup in midweek. Of the likely starting line-up against the Premier League side, only goalkeeper Kevin Trapp, David Luiz, Blaise Matuidi and Angel Di Maria started, while Marco Verratti was back on the bench after being troubled by injury recently. "We needed to avoid injuries and we did so. All that was missing was the two points we dropped," said Blanc. "We could have played better but I can't knock my players for their spirit. We had five or six clear chances but Lille never gave up and I am quite satisfied. This match was difficult to play for multiple reasons." Lille were without their biggest creative threat Sofiane Boufal due to suspension and Portugal striker Eder, freshly arrived on loan from Swansea City, was absent due to injury. - Backs to the wall - It was always going to be a backs to the wall job for the away side but they have the meanest defence in the division after their opponents and were rarely troubled in the first half. Vincent Enyeama saved well from young forward Jean-Kevin Augustin and Layvin Kurzawa saw his header cleared off the line in a first period low on excitement. Verratti, the Italy midfielder, replaced Javier Pastore at the start of the second half and Paris passed up a glorious chance to open the scoring in the 56th minute. Nigerian keeper Enyeama dropped a cross from the PSG left and the ball fell to Cavani, who somehow contrived to blast the ball high and wide despite being left with a gaping goal. Enyeama then saved from a deflected shot by Lucas, who had come on for Di Maria, as Lille held out for the first goalless draw at the Parc des Princes in Ligue 1 since December 2014. PSG are still a huge 25 points clear at the top of the table from Monaco, who visit Saint-Etienne on Sunday. Nice, in third, host Marseille on Sunday when Lyon are at home to Caen. Nantes moved up to fifth on Saturday evening by beating near neighbours Lorient 2-1 with Adryan and Emiliano Sala getting their goals as the Canaries made it 15 games unbeaten between league and cup. Bordeaux bounced back from losing to Nantes in the French Cup in midweek by winning 4-2 in an entertaining encounter at Guingamp. Bottom club Troyes got just their second win of the season, beating Gazelec Ajaccio 3-2 away to pull the Corsicans back into the relegation zone. Montpellier climbed out of the bottom three by beating Toulouse 2-0 while Bastia got their first away win of the season, 1-0 at Reims.
