Brest and Lille shared Ligue 1’s lunchtime spoils in an entertaining clash at Stade Francis-Le Blé with a 1-1 draw, as the hosts held the visitors to extend their undefeated head-to-head streak at home to four games since promotion to Ligue 1 in 2019.Trailing dark horses Brest by four points in the race to forge an automatic Champions League qualification spot, the onus lied with Lille to inflict a second straight winless game on the hosts. And although the visitors spared no effort in a bid to draw first blood, forcing Marco Bizot into a brace of stunning saves, it was Eric Roy’s men who came the closest via Romain del Castillo, who rattled the woodwork with a low drive after picking up a pass in the area.##EDITORS_CHOICE##Neither side made their mark as halftime approached, but both sides took it up a notch following the interval, with Brest’s Martin Satriano and Lille’s Edon Zhegrova leading the line for their respective sides. While the former sent successive efforts flying over the crossbar, the latter, making use of his pace on the wing, called Bizot into action.But there was a sense of inevitability about the sharp-shooting Jonathan David bursting into the spotlight, and he finally scored the opener in the 67th minute. Having been set up by Angel Gomes, the Canadian hitman calmly netted his 15th goal of the league season with a sweet finish into the bottom corner, denying the Pirates the chance to establish a historic seventh straight clean sheet at home.However, Brest struck back shortly after via Satriano, who made up for his earlier misses with a poacher’s finish from inside the box at the first time of asking. With everything to play for in the final 10 minutes, both outfits upped the ante, but ultimately ended up sharing spoils.Despite dropping points, Brest still have a significant stronghold on the Ligue 1 second spot following Satriano’s equaliser, as they remain on course for what would be a maiden Champions League qualification. Meanwhile, Lille remain undefeated in three away league outings, although Paulo Fonseca will rue his side’s missed chances, which otherwise would have seen them cut their gap behind Brest to just one point.LIGUE 1 – MATCHDAY 26FridayToulouse – Olympique Lyon 2-3 (0-1)/Dallinga 53, Sierro 59 pen – Lacazette 33, Cherki 77, O’Brien 81/SaturdayNantes – Strasbourg 1-3 (1-1)/Comert 36 – Gameiro 3, Emegha 62, 78/Lens – Nice 1-3 (0-1)/Wahi 76 – Moffi 11,67 pen, Thuram 53/Sunday Brest – Lille 1-1 (0-0)/Satriano 80 – David 67/17.00: (2.65) Clermont (3.20) Le Havre (2.95)17.00: (1.40) Monaco (5.00) Lorient (9.00)19.05: (2.55) Rennes (3.45) Olympique Marseille (2.90)22.45: (5.90) Montpellier (4.20) PSG (1.55)***odds are subject to change***
