Lille march on

Ligue 1 high flyers Lille extended their unbeaten run to 10 matches as they claimed a 1-0 victory over 10-man Toulouse.

Ligue 1 high flyers Lille extended their unbeaten run to 10 matches as they claimed a 1-0 victory over 10-man Toulouse at Stade Pierre-Mauroy to strengthen their place behind leaders Paris St Germain in the table. Pape Souare's second-half header was all that separated the two sides after Oscar Trejo was sent off for a bad challenge after 60 minutes. The win leaves Rene Girard's side just four points behind PSG, while Toulouse, who have failed to record a win in their last four league games, are 14th. Lille started strongly and could have taken the lead after 14 minutes. Ronnie Rodelin found Souare on the left and he sent in a perfect cross for Salomon Kalou at the far post. The former Chelsea striker controlled the ball well and fired towards the Toulouse goal, but his shot was just inches wide of the post. But Alain Casanova's side were made to defend minutes later as Wissam Ben Yedder collected the ball from Clement Chantome on the edge of the area, his left-footed effort forcing goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama to block. And the away side were on the attack again midway through the first half as Jonathan Zebina put in a cross towards Issiaga Sylla, whose shot from the left of the area was kept out by Nigeria stopper Enyeama. Five minutes before the break Lille could have broken the deadlock as defender Simon Kjaer released Rodelin near the area, but Aly Ahamada was well placed to keep the ball out. Franck Beria came close to opening the scoring 10 minutes after the break for Les Dogues as Kalou combined with Rodelin on the left and freed the 30-year-old defender, but his close-range shot sailed over the bar. Toulouse striker Trejo saw red for the visitors one minute later for a nasty-looking elbow on Senegal international Souare The home side continued to press forward and almost took the lead on the hour mark. Divock Origi found Florent Balmont, who fired in a fierce shot from the right, but Toulouse goalkeeper Ahamada was on hand again to deny him an opener. Their pressure finally paid off after 83 minutes as Kalou found Balmont on the right. Balmont delivered a superb ball toward Souare inside the box and he made no mistake with his header to hand Lille the advantage. Toulouse had a last-gasp effort from midfielder Adrien Regattin, but were unable to break through the Lille defence.