Paul Fonseca’s team is still not as powerful as it appeared five days ago in the north of France when they crushed humble Auxerre. Lille are vulnerable, so much so, that they cannot celebrate even where in previous years they only knew about victory. However, on their way to scoring their fifth win at Beaujoire Stadium, they were stopped by Nantes goalkeeper Alban Lafont, without any doubt the central figure at the opening of the second round of League 1 – 1:1 (1:0).Lille has won each of the last four visits against the Canaries, in the three ties they did not concede a goal, but this evening the host was determined to end that black streak. And not only that, they wanted to finally win against Lille, but for the first time after 14 consecutive matches between each other in all competitions.
They began their quest with a goal by Moses Simon, who was cunning enough to elude the defenders at the corner in the 28th minute and redirect Andrei Girotto’s shot into the net from five meters away. The fast-footed Nigerian was the most notable individual of the first half, he created big problems for the visitors on the left wing, ran past the ageing Jose Fonte too easily and brought unrest to the defence of Fonseca’s team, showing in action that Nottingham Forest’s interest in his services was not in vain. However, he missed another shot that would knock down his rival, although Simon was very close to doing so, as he hit the post three minutes before the leading goal.
However, Antoine Kombouare’s team made a mistake by deciding to defend the minimum advantage for the rest of the game, thus burdening their goalkeeper Alban Lafont. However, the excellent French goalie, the only one in this century who was graded 10 for that last year’s game against Paris Saint-Germain by L’Equipe, coped well with the pressure of the guests, tamed two shots each from Benjamin Andre and Remy Cabella. But in the 76th minute, the reserve Ismaili tied the home team’s defence in a knot with a short combination with Jonathan David and finally checked Lafont with a shot to the far corner, marking his debut in the jersey of the new club he joined this summer from Shakhtar. He will remain in the shadow of the draw, the second for Nantes and the first for Lille this season.