Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Lille v Paris St Germain - Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France - December 17, 2023 Lille's Nabil Bentaleb celebrates with teammates after Jonathan David scores their first goal REUTERS/Abdul Saboor
LILLE, France (Reuters) -Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint Germain threw away two points as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Lille when substitute Jonathan David headed a last-minute equaliser after the visitors had taken the lead through a Kylian Mbappe penalty on Sunday.
PSG were caught with a sucker punch when substitute Marco Asensio's sloppy pass was intercepted and although Adam Ounas's deflected shot was well saved by Arnau Tenas with his legs David followed up to nod the ball into the net on the rebound.
PSG had gone in front through Mbappe's spot kick in the 66th minute after Bafode Diakite tripped Lucas Hernandez.
The result leaves PSG with 37 points, five clear of second-placed Nice, who lost 3-1 at Le Havre on Saturday. AS Monaco, who are third, went down 1-0 at home to lowly Olympique Lyonnais on Friday. Lille's win leaves them in fourth with 28 points.
"We hardly suffered in the first 80 minutes but a slight lack of control and Lille's pressure meant we ended up with a draw," PSG manager Luis Enrique said.
"It's a shame, but you have to play matches to the last second. It's a result that doesn't necessarily do justice to the game we played, but that's the way it is."
Lille started strongly in front of an enthusiastic home crowd and created chances initially but as the game wore on the visitors gained more control over the match.
Ousmane Dembele had PSG's first clear opportunity when he was played through in the box but his attempt from a tight angle narrowly missed the target.
In the minutes leading up to the break, Vitinha came close for the visitors but his attempt from close range was tipped over for a corner by Lille goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier.
PSG maintained the pressure at the beginning of the second half and went ahead when Mbappe fired his spot kick into the top corner. But there was a sting in the Lille tail for the visitors as David popped up to level the scores at the death.
PSG host lowly Metz on Wednesday, while Lille travel to Strasbourg before the league shuts down for the Christmas break.
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk; Editing by Ken Ferris)
