A late goal by Blaise Matuidi helped spare Paris Saint-Germain's blushes as they fought from behind to beat lowly Ajaccio and preserve their lead at the top of Ligue 1.

PSG had started brightly when Adrien Rabiot almost scored from a third-minute corner, but soon after they fell behind against the Corsican outfit.

On six minutes Benjamin Andre found Eduardo Dos Santos, who beat Salvatore Sirigu from close range to give the league's bottom side a great start.

But with Ajaccio having only scored 13 goals in their 19 games prior to this contest, it became a tough task to hold on to their advantage.

They could have been pegged back on the half-hour mark when Zlatan Ibrahimovic's free kick came back off the post with Guillermo Ochoa beaten.

Laurent Blanc's charges enjoyed far more possession and greater opportunities, but should have been on level terms when Edinson Cavani twice went close in quick succession with the half coming to a close.

It was left to fellow former Napoli forward Ezequiel Lavezzi to level things up when Ibrahimovic's cross was tucked in by the Argentine from close range.

Les Parisiens continued to dominate proceedings after the break and Lavezzi ought to have put the leaders ahead when he got on to the end of Maxwell's cross and somehow put his effort wide when it looked easier to score.

Ajaccio had rare moments of their own in attack and Dos Santos latched onto Johan Cavalli's pass, but the forward couldn't trouble Sirigu.

PSG did find a second goal with 16 minutes left when Ibrahimovic again turned provider for Matuidi and the French international made no mistake in finding Ochoa's bottom right corner.

The result means the team from the capital stay five points clear of AS Monaco at the top.