Rampant Lille crush Metz to climb into top four
Just days after a thrilling but frustrating 4-3 defeat to PAOK in the UEFA Europa Conference League, Lille returned to domestic duty with ruthless intent. Bruno Génésio’s men put a helpless Metz side to the sword, led by a sparkling performance from Félix Correia, who struck twice and provided an assist in a one-sided contest.
Igamane sets the tone
Standing in for Olivier Giroud, Hamza Igamane opened the scoring midway through the first half, continuing his remarkable scoring efficiency in Ligue 1. The Moroccan forward applied a neat finish from a cutback by Fernandez-Pardo to make it 1-0.
The lead was soon doubled after a moment to forget for Metz goalkeeper Pape Sy, whose attempted clearance rebounded straight to Correia. The Portuguese winger made no mistake, lofting the ball calmly into the empty net for 2-0.
Correia at the double
Correia added his second shortly after the break, this time volleying home after fine work from Fernandez-Pardo down the left flank. From there, Lille’s attacking flow became irresistible.
Romain Perraud made it 4-0 with a low strike from distance, before Benjamin André got on the scoresheet with a brave diving header (82’). The rout was completed when Hakon Haraldsson turned home a low cross from the lively substitute Diaoune (90’).
Late consolation and injury concern
Metz found a late consolation through Ibou Sané, who curled in a superb effort to make it 6-1 in stoppage time, but the match ended on a worrying note for the visitors. Goalkeeper Pape Sy was stretchered off after a heavy collision with Mohamed Sahraoui which prompted concern for his wellbeing.
The STAT: like a fine wine
Having already scored on Thursday against PAOK in the Europa League, Benjamin André (Lille) has now scored in two consecutive matches (in 545 appearances with a team from the European top five leagues) for the second time, after doing so in November-December 2017 with Rennes (2).
