Zlatan Ibrahimovic's first-half penalty secured Paris Saint-Germain a well-earned 1-0 victory over Nice at the Parc des Princes this evening.
It was also enough to ensure that Laurent Blanc's men remain in touching distance of Ligue 1 leaders Marseille.
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Surprisingly, the visitors were the first side to seriously threaten in the opening stages as Alassane Plea forced a great stop from Salvatore Sirigu down to his right corner, after he was picked out by young defender Gregoire Puel.
PSG soon hit back, however, and it was Ibrahimovic who would have given his side the lead, but for the left post that kept out the Swede's left-footed shot from the centre of the box.
The miss was not to prove too costly given that the striker returned to convert a penalty in the 15th minute, after playmaker Lucas drew a thoughtless foul from a clumsy Romain Genevois in the area.
Young upstart Jordan Amavi appeared threatening after the break and he produced an dangerous cross for Nice's Valentin Eysseric, but he could only head high and wide of the target.
Plea was next to show promise for the visitors, who sensed a possible equaliser, only for Sirigu to show reflexes down low to keep out the striker's attempt from distance.
After PSG's Edinson Cavani was wasteful from a mere six yards out, back came the visitors and they should have produced a leveller, but Amavi was denied from a difficult angle, before the defender then headed straight at the keeper from point-blank range late on.
Christopher Dodd
