Paris Saint Germain survived the big chill in France with their lead at the top of Ligue 1 intact after a 3-1 win over Evian at the Parc des Princes on Saturday although Montpellier kept in touch with a 1-0 success over Brest.
Carlo Ancelotti's PSG stayed three points clear of their southern rivals with 49 points from 22 games after recovering from the shock of going behind on a bone-hard pitch, Cedric Cambon opening the scoring in first half stoppage time.
But PSG stuck to their task and Brazilian Nene rescued them with a solo leveller two minutes after the restart before finally breaking the visitors' resistance with a penalty 11 minutes from time after Jeremy Menez was bundled over in the box.
France international forward Kevin Gameiro put the icing on the cake with a third at the death, a swift poach after a Nene effort was deflected.
PSG handed a debut meanwhile to Italy international midfielder Thiago Motta, a transfer window signing from Inter Milan - although fellow new boy Alex did not feature after his arrival from Chelsea.
"We never really doubted (the result)," said PSG skipper Mamadou Sakho. "The coach had a few choice words at the break to motivate us - he told us he didn't see us losing."
Menez said: "It was difficult and we conceded at a bad time. But we showed we had the character to turn it around and that is the important thing going forward."
PSG sporting director Leonardo was pleased at the fightback.
"In difficult conditions we showed we have spirit and that is a very good thing. There will be matches like that."
Montpellier thanked a 41st-minute goal from Geoffrey Dernis - a close range effort off his back - for their win over midtable Brest which kept the hosts seven points clear of defending champions Lille with Lyon a point further back.
Dernis had to go off after the break with a knee injury, giving way to Moroccan international Younes Belhanda, who was returning from African Nations Cup duty.
"That's a bit of a worry," stated Montpellier coach Rene Girard, who revealed Dernis would have a scan on the injury.
Lille are due at rock-bottom Sochaux on Sunday when Marseille host Lyon in what could be a cracker as both sides set their sights on third place.
That match, which sees Marseille bidding to stretch their winning run to nine matches in all competitions, is also a dress rehearsal for the League Cup final.
Marseille will be hampered, however, by the suspension handed to midfielder Mathieu Valbuena after he was dismissed in the midweek League Cup win over Nice.
Elsewhere, Dijon slid to a 2-1 home loss to Valenciennes and Ajaccio were held 1-1 by Nice - but the Corsican hosts remain out of the drop zone after a strong recent run including four straight wins.
Nice themselves are in the bottom three along with Auxerre and Sochaux, three points further back.
The match between Saint-Etienne and Lorient fell victim to the cold snap.
Source: AFP
