Rene Girard: 'Lille didn't want to spoil Paris Saint-Germain Christmas'

Rene Girard has praised his "remarkable" Lille side for their performance against Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday at the Parc des Princes.

Having initially gone in front through Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the champions were eventually forced to come from behind to earn a 2-2 draw thanks to a Thiago Silva equaliser after Rio Mavuba and Salomon Kalou had given Lille the lead.

"We didn't want to spoil Christmas for the Parisians!" Girard said in his press conference. "Seriously, though, it was a bit of a shame because we did everything we needed to and we stymied the Parisians well. We even could have won 3-2 right at the death (a chance for Marko Basa).

"I'm very proud of the lads. They played a remarkable match in an atmosphere that threatened to boil over at times. We managed to respond well, which was great.

"It's complicated to come to play in Paris, but I think we did our job well tonight. Paris are a great team, but Lille aren't bad either!"

Lille host Reims on January 12 after the winter break.