Lille draw in Nice in top-half thriller
Match Reports
In a matchup of two top-six sides, LOSC Lille drew with hosts OGC Nice 2-2 in a match that was thoroughly entertaining and featured a pair of unlikely goalscorers for Bruno Génésio's side, who were stunned at the death by the hosts' Tom Louchet.
In-form sides clash
Heading into this match, despite some notable absences for both sides, neither had lost in the league since mid-September. In the week, Nice, playing with ten men, came back from being two goals down to snatch a draw against FC Twente, while Les Dogues had battled hard to secure a home draw with Juventus in the Champions League. With Dante rested for the hosts and Angel Gomes and Rémy Cabella only on the bench for Lille, it was clear that rotation on the back of their European efforts was on the cards for both sides, but that hardly stopped the match from being a thrilling encounter.
Nice, with Evann Guessand and Jérémie Boga both back in the starting eleven, started the stronger, forcing Lucas Chevalier into several stops as they sought to play on the counter. It would be Lille who would strike the opening goal, though, as young Belgian winger Matias Fernandez-Pardo made a fine run up the left flank before finding the top corner of Marcin Bulka's goal. Despite both sides pushing for more, Lille continued to keep the ball and generally limit the hosts.
New Belgium generation: Matias Fernandez-Pardo 🇧🇪💎
First start and first goal in Ligue 1 🤩 pic.twitter.com/7jPRnHMxRh— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) November 10, 2024
Late drama
Frustrated with being down a goal, Franck Haise made a change at the break, bringing on Sofiane Diop for Melvin Bard on the left. His change paid dividends almost immediately, as just before the hour mark, the youngster recovered the ball before linking with Tanguy Ndombélé and Jonathan Clauss to beat Chevalier from close range. Lille would be quick to respond, however, and again had a goal from an unlikely source, fullback Mitchell Bakker, who put his side back in front after Nice failed to deal with a shot by Benjamin André.
From there, the match, which had already been entertaining, truly roared to life. With ten minutes left, Lille's Gabriel Gudmundsson hit the post, having left Bulka well-beaten, and Nice responded with a pair of chances for Ali Al-Abdi, neither one of which found the back of the net. Dogues defender Bafodé Diakité then hit the post with a free kick five minutes from full time, but the match would eventually be decided by Tom Louchet, the Nice substitute slotting home from the edge of the area to secured a point for his side in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
With the draw, Lille remain fourth, while Nice leapfrog Lens to go a provisional fifth ahead of the international break.
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