Ligue 1 – 18th day – Lille, unsinkable, overthrows Nice (2-1)

Lille is stunning. Heckled, even unrecognizable, in the first period, Lille had to pull away after the break to win against Nice, at the end of a poster counting for the European places (2-1). Getting off to a bad start, Bruno Génésio’s men returned from the locker room with clearer ideas to turn things around and knock out the Aiglons. This is a 21st match in a row without defeat, in all competitions, for LOSC, which has achieved an excellent performance in the standings with Monaco’s defeat against Montpellier.

Lille can still say thank you to Lucas Chevalier. Because, without his decisive interventions, Nice would have taken off quickly in this part. The goalkeeper was approached almost from the start by Gaëtan Laborde (3rd). He did it again a few minutes later, to disgust Sofiane Diop (13th). The Mastiffs did not put one foot in front of the other, with a technical waste which deeply annoyed Bruno Génésio. And we can understand it.

By forcing to foil, Lille were logically trapped and, this time, Chevalier was unable to perform a miracle. On a cross-shot from Jonathan Clauss, he pushed the ball back to Diop, very well placed in the second half (0-1, 29th). The opener was more than deserved and we impatiently awaited the Lille reaction. Before the break, we were still closer to the break for Nice, since Tanguy Ndombele hit the bar on a corner (45th + 2). An opportunity that the Aiglons will be able to ruminate on.

Because, during the second act, Lille returned with better intentions, certainly helped by the tactical adjustment at the break, Rémy Cabella, transparent, having given way to Osame Sahraoui. Coaching paid off, since the northern offensives were much more bloody. Furthermore, Hakon Arnar Haraldsson had the good idea to equalize quickly, with a nice shot which hit the post (1-1, 48th). This equalization changed the balance of power, and Lille was able to take the advantage thanks to Bafodé Diakité, in a fox position on a corner poorly cleared by the Nice defense (2-1, 63rd).

After a final thrill from Melvin Bard, perfectly offbeat but imprecise (87th), Lille therefore validated a very precious success against a direct opponent. He also moved ahead of him in the rankings and, icing on the cake, also took advantage of Monaco’s unfortunate defeat in Montpellier to move into third place. The affair is far too good and punctuates a great week.