Referee Tony Chapron could face punishment after he kicked out at Nantes defender Diego Carlos during Paris St Germain’s 1-0 win.

The official aimed a kick at Carlos while on the floor at the Stade de la Beaujoire on Sunday after the pair accidentally collided in injury time.

Carlos was shown a second yellow card, apparently for dissent, but Chapron was left to try to explain himself to the baffled Nantes team at the end.

Angel Di Maria’s 12th-minute winner earned PSG a seventh straight win in all competitions and saw them move 11 points clear at the top of Ligue 1.

But they were made to work hard as Emiliano Sala had a goal disallowed for offside in the second half.

PSG were without the injured Neymar, but made light work of their hosts in the first half and Di Maria won it after 12 minutes when he drilled into the bottom corner.

The former Manchester United winger also missed a golden chance eight minutes before the break when he somehow hit the bar from six yards.

The visitors should have killed the game off in the first half, but Nantes upped the tempo after the break and Carlos glanced a header wide three minutes after the re-start.

Di Maria missed another fine chance when he fired wide after 56 minutes and PSG were almost made to pay five minutes later.

Leo Dubois’ free-kick was nodded in by Sala, but Abdoulaye Toure, who had also attacked the ball, was offside and the goal was ruled out.

Nantes put PSG under huge pressure, but could not force a deserved leveller and the evening ended in bizarre and controversial circumstances.

Costa was racing back to try to stop a PSG break and accidentally collided with referee Chapron, who then kicked out at the defender while on the ground.

Costa was dismissed for a second yellow card, to the bafflement of his team, and PSG almost added a second when Adrien Rabiot hit a post.