Lille (AFP)

Lille took the leader's chair in Ligue 1 after their difficult success (2-0) against Nantes, Friday at the opening of the 5th day.

Le Losc, still undefeated this season, won thanks to goals from Nantes defender Nicolas Pallois against his side (43rd) and Burak Yilmaz from the penalty spot (87th).

With 11 points collected in five games, the Northerners took the lead in the championship with a head start over Saint-Etienne and Rennes, who face each other on Saturday (5:00 p.m.) at Geoffroy-Guichard.

Friday on their lawn at Stade Pierre-Mauroy, the Mastiffs rebounded well after their frustrating draw on Sunday in Marseille, where they had dominated but were punished for their lack of realism at the very end of the match.

If they were less brilliant than at the Vélodrome, they managed to win and keep their clean sheet, in particular thanks to a good performance from their goalkeeper Mike Maignan.

Nantes, for its part, remains stuck in 14th place with five points on the clock.

After a balanced start to the game, Losc got the first chances by their Turkish striker Yilmaz: his first attempt was blocked by the Nantes defense (6th), then the second was masterfully repelled by Alban Lafont (8th).

The Canaries goalkeeper was then very happy to see a strike from Luiz Araujo deflected by Pallois spinning just near his goal (23rd).

In the meantime, the FCN reacted with a shot from Fabio captured by Mike Maignan (15th), then by a new attempt by the Brazilian, blocked (27th).

- Unhappy Pallois -

Then Randal Kolo Muani, launched in the back of José Fonte, lost his duel against Maignan by not pressing enough his curled shot (38th).

Just before half-time, the Mastiffs, however less sharp at the end of the first period, finally managed to open the scoring: after a new strike from Araujo repelled by Lafont, Zeki Celik followed well and his center back was first touched by Jonathan David then by Pallois, unhappy, who scored against his camp (1-0, 43rd).

After the break, the Canaries rushed on the attack to try to get back to the score, but fell on a very inspired Lille goalkeeper, like his headline on a strike from Moses Simon (56th) and especially from a tap on a powerful shot from Kader Bamba who spun under his bar (75th) and a close range shot from Renaud Emond (88th).

The Northerners had several dangerous situations to double the bet but lacked precision in the transmissions, or success, as on a shot from Jonathan Bamba who crashed on the post (70th).

Finally, Lille managed to take cover at the end of the game on a penalty obtained and transformed by Yilmaz, who scored his first goal with Losc, after a foul by Dennis Appiah (2-0, 87th).

Lille struggled, but Lille is the leader.

© 2020 AFP