On a good series of three victories in a row in Ligue 1, the last against Marseille (2-0) before the international break, Lille stumbled, this Saturday, away against Clermont.
Faced with the promoted who had not won for seven days, the reigning French champion hoped to kill two birds with one stone: temporarily climb on the podium and send a strong message before the reception of Seville on Wednesday for his third match of the Champions League group stage.
Deprived of Reinildo and Burak Yilmaz, suspended for the meeting, the LOSC in its usual 4-2-2 was much too imprecise, especially during the first act with a single shot on target, signed Xeka at the entrance to the area and perfectly repelled by Arthur Desmas.
Despite a reaction to the return of the locker room, with more intensity and offensive opportunities, the club of Jocelyn Gourvennec has never managed to reverse a badly started situation since the half-hour of play and the opening of the Clermont score of Vital N'Simba.
A first in Ligue 1 for the 28-year-old defender.
⏱ It's over in Clermont where the Mastiffs bow (1-0).
The report of the meeting 🔽
- LOSC (@losclive) October 16, 2021
"It's a big disappointment"
“We are very disappointed with our performance, it's our fault. It's the end of a series, we are not in the place we should be (eighth currently), but we have the strength to overcome all that, ”commented Xeka, the Portuguese midfielder, at the outcome of the match on Prime Video. “We played a big game,” said Clermontois Johan Gastien, who greatly appreciated “the solidarity” displayed by his teammates in the second period. “They had zero chances or one strike,” he added of his opponent.
Olivier Létang, the president of Lille, was even more critical after the Dogues' fourth defeat this season in L1: “Tonight, we hit rock bottom in terms of content.
We were very bad.
If we don't have certain individual or collective values in top-level football, we cannot claim anything.
The victory is totally deserved.
It is a big disappointment.
We are waiting for a reaction against Sevilla ”.
This third match of the Champions League group stage, at home against the current fourth in La Liga, will be very important in the race for the round of 16.
Held in check at the opening by Wolfsburg (0-0) on September 14, then beaten by Salzburg (2-1) on September 29, the northerner team currently occupies the last place in Group G.