Lucas earns 10-man PSG winning start against Lille

PSG were playing without forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic and their new 44.3m pound acquisition Angel Di Maria.

PSG’s Adrien Rabiot received two yellow cards within the space of five minutes and was dismissed with less than half an hour gone.

A swift passing move involving Moura, Cavani and Blaise Matuidi in the middle of the pitch ended with the Brazilian racing beyond the Lille defence on to Matuidi’s through-ball, rounding Enyeama and slotting the ball home.

Rabiot picked up the first one after 22 minutes for a crude tackle on Lille midfielder Florent Balmont, and minutes later he was sent off by referee Fredy Fautrel for a foul on defender Sebastian Corchia.

“Rabiot’s first yellow card is a little bit harsh”, the head coach continued in the post-match press conference.

The result marked the first time since 2010 that PSG have started their league campaign with a win and although they rarely resembled the side that swept all before them en route to an historic domestic treble last season, Blanc will certainly have been heartened by his side’s resolve.

“It was detrimental to the team, but it may have helped to galvanize us”.

Lucas will hope he can catch Dunga’s eye tonight when PSG play Lille in their Ligue 1 game of the season.

Lille players laid siege of the visitors’ defence in the final 20 minutes but PSG new keeper Kevin Trapp was hardly tested. “We’re going to be even better with Di Maria who is an exceptional player“. “It is only the beginning, but we see that there is a lot to play for on the field”.

“We should have been more aggressive in the duels”.

For Lille it was their first loss of a season-opener since 2009.

Overall it was a satisfying opening day for PSG and the champions kick-off with three points, which is already an improvement on any of the starts to a season that Les Parisiens have made under Qatar Sports Investments’ (QSI) ownership so far.

Last season’s runner-up Lyon hosts Lorient on Sunday while Monaco travels to Nice on Saturday.