Villeneuve-d'Ascq (AFP)

Without being brilliant, Lille provided the essentials by beating at home Dijon (1-0), and took advantage of the unexpected disappointment of Paris SG in Lorient (3-2) to seize the leader's chair of Ligue 1, Sunday on the 22nd day.

It is once again a Turkish striker who offered a very precious success to the Mastiffs: in the absence of Burak Yilmaz, injured, it was Yusuf Yazici who made the difference by scoring a foxing goal from the surfaces to the half - hour of play (29th).

Sunday, the Losc was serious but narrowly missed against the penultimate of the championship.

The Mastiffs, however, still showed signs of solidity and managed to garner a fourth consecutive victory which brings them back to the top of Ligue 1.

With 48 points, Christophe Galtier's players are now ahead of Lyon and PSG by two and three lengths and can continue to dream of creating a surprise at the end of the season.

But February will be very difficult for the Northerners, with in particular two trips to Bordeaux and Nantes next week, the entry into contention in the Coupe de France and the round of 16 of the Europa League against Ajax Amsterdam.

Dijon, beaten at the last minute in Lorient on Wednesday (3-2), leaves again without a single point and remains relegable (19th) with only 15 units on the clock.

From the start of the match, Lille monopolized the ball and was quick to create situations for themselves: on a cross from Luiz Araujo, Jonathan David cleverly set back for Boubakary Soumaré, whose low strike is passed right next to it (10th).

Then it was the central defender Sven Botman, on a corner, who put Anthony Raccioppi to contribution with a header that the goalkeeper slammed above his crossbar (15th).

Two minutes earlier, the Dutchman had grazed the correctional with a tackle from behind on Mama Baldé which had earned him a warning.

- Opportunist Yazici -

Jonathan Bamba (18th) and Yazici (26th) also tried their luck, but lacked precision.

Finally, the Turkish striker cracked the Dijon defense: he pressed Bruno Ecuele Manga into the box, stole the ball from him, before faking a back pass to eliminate the keeper and score in the empty goal (1-0 , 29th).

This 12th goal of the season from the former Trabzonspor player, the 6th in L1, stunned the DFCO, who had difficulty reacting to Lille who intensified their pressing and were still dangerous by Yazici (34th ) and Araujo (38th).

On the return from the locker room, Lille maintained their domination but narrowly missed, like this somewhat long control by David which allowed Ecuele Manga to clear in extremis (50th).

Then, Bamba, alone at the far post, sent his resumption of the head far above while he was alone against the empty goal (62nd) and Araujo's attempt from 25 meters flew away (66th)

The Dijon, at the foot of the wall, began to be more offensive and managed to approach the cage of Mike Maignan on several occasions.

Thus, Junior Dina Edimbe placed a low shot captured by the northerner goalkeeper (56th), then Jose Fonte repelled a dangerous shot from Bersant Celina (76th) and Frédéric Sammaritano shot above (80th).

Without being flamboyant, Lille managed to win and it is also the hallmark of great teams ...

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