Seven goals, four red cards: Lille's "mad" win over Auxerre

Entertainment certainly was not in short supply at the Stade de l'Abbé-Deschamps on Sunday afternoon as Lille edged Auxerre in a seven-goal thriller.

Bentaleb evokes "mad" game

Seven goals, four red cards, and three points for LOSC. It certainly wasn't a straightforward day at the office for Bruno Genesio's men.

Hakon Arnar Haraldsson's early goal put Lille in the lead, but Nathan Ngoy's red card handed L'AJA the momentum. Auxerre then equalised through Lassine Sinayoko, but moments later, they ceded their man advantage, with Clément Akpa receiving a second yellow and a red. But Christophe Pélissier's men remained in the ascendancy and took the lead thanks to a Chancel Mbemba own goal.

But then Nabil Bentaleb netted a superb equaliser before Soriba Diaoune restored LOSC's lead late on. The fun didn't stop there. Sinayoko netted his second to tie the scores at 3-3, only for Benjamin André to score a winner just three minutes later to conclude a crazy 10 minutes, during which four goals were scored.

These 10 minutes from Auxerre vs Lille. PURE MADNESS. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/Mn98OmwkCD
— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) December 14, 2025

There would be more drama before the final whistle, with Romain Perraud and Oussama El Azzouzi both seeing red following a late confrontation, ensuring that both sides would finish with just nine men on the pitch.

"It is incredible what happened," reacted Bentaleb post-match. "It was a really mad match. I don't know if I've experienced anything like that in my career."

A first since 2022

Bentaleb's comments shouldn't come as a surprise. Such scenarios are rare. The last time that there were four red cards in a single Ligue 1 McDonald's match was back in August 2022, and a match between Montpellier and... Auxerre. It was L'AJA who came away with the three points on that occasion (1-2).

There are just three games in the history of Ligue 1 McDonald's that have finished with more records (Monaco v Lyon in May 2021, PSG v Marseille in September 2020, and Bastia v Ajaccio in March 2013). Two of those fixtures were fierce derby encounters, all were marked by a brawl either just before or just after the final whistle.

ASM-OL had five goals in it, with the latter coming out winners (2-3). In the PSG-OM encounter, Florian Thauvin's goal was the difference (1-0), and there was just one goal in the game between Bastia and Ajaccio, with the former scoring the only goal back in 2013.

LOSC rain on Auxerre's parade

Lille's game against Auxerre blended cards and goals. It brought an end to L'AJA's three-game unbeaten run in Ligue 1 McDonald's, whilst it allows LOSC to stay in the top four and on course for Champions League qualification.

Coincidentally, the game coincided with Auxerre's 120-year anniversary. It was quite the way to mark a historic landmark, and quite the way for LOSC to spoil the party.

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