Goals either side of half-time gave Lille a hard-fought 2-0 victory at Evian TG in Ligue 1 this evening.

The visitors almost took the lead on 26 minutes when Dimitri Payet's left-footed drive forced a good save out of Stephan Andersen between the Evian sticks.

They forced a deserved opening five minutes before the break. Payet swung in a looping cross and Nolan Roux headed in from six yards.

Evian almost hit back early in the second period through Yannick Sagbo, whose close-range effort was kept out by veteran stopper Mickael Landreau.

Lille doubled their lead shortly after the hour mark following a swift counter-attack. The neat move ended with Florent Balmont finding the top corner from outside the box with a left-foot strike.

Evian pressed to reduce the deficit with Yannick Sagbo and Sidney Govou both coming close, but Lille held tight and kept the clean sheet.