Lille win in Lyon to reassert control of Ligue 1 title race

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With four rounds of fixtures to play, Lille are a point clear of PSG and two points above Monaco

By Adam White and Eric Devin for Get French Football News

While it was an unseemly and even cruel way for Lyon’s hopes of winning the title (and perhaps reaching the Champions League) to disappear, Lille fully deserved their 3-2 win at the Groupama Stadium on Sunday night. Having gone 2-0 down after 35 minutes, it looked as if Lille’s unlikely title bid was fading, but they reacted in sublime fashion, scoring three times against the hosts – the last of these coming five minutes from time – to reassert themselves in the match and in the conversation for the Ligue 1 crown.

Lille went into the game under pressure, with both PSG and Monaco having won earlier in the weekend. While they have often relied on players who are noted as much for their youth as their talent, it wasn’t Sven Botman or Renato Sanches who made the difference on the pitch against Lyon, but 35-year-old Burak Yilmaz, who scored a scintillating free-kick on the stroke of half-time to reduce the deficit to 2-1 before setting up Jonathan David for the equaliser on the hour mark and then scoring the winner himself. Lille manager Christophe Galtier said he performed “like a locomotive – in this type of match, these are the players who make the difference.”

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from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/apr/26/lille-lyon-reassert-control-ligue-1-title-race-psg-monaco

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