Andre Gomes found the net twice as a Rémy Cabella-inspired Lille scored three times in the first half to defeat struggling Ajaccio 3-0 on Saturday and strengthen their hold on fifth place in the Ligue 1 Uber Eats table.
THE MATCH
After a slip-up against Angers early in the month and the draw with Auxerre last weekend, Lille could ill afford more dropped points as they sought to give themselves breathing space in the race for a top-five finish and qualification for European football next season.
They did so in the space of 45 minutes at the Decathlon Arena where they put struggling Ajaccio to the sword before the break, despite their iconic captain José Fonte missing the game through injury and being replaced by teenager Leny Yoro in central defence.
The hosts could still count on the experience and quality of Cabella, who received a pass from Edon Zhegrova inside the penalty area before teeing up André Gomes to steer a shot into the top corner for the opening goal with 22 minutes on the clock.
The Portugal international had only found the net once this season before kick-off: he tripled his tally for the Ligue 1 Uber Eats season just after the half-hour mark after Zhegrova had again picked out Cabella, who backheeled invitingly into André Gomes' path (34').
Lille had gone unbeaten in their previous 13 home games, and they made sure of stretching that to 14 and equalling the run they achieved in their double-winning season of 2010/11 when Cabella added a seventh league goal to go with his nine assists after Zhegrova had provided Jonathan Bamba with the opportunity to cross (37').
Cabella thought he had gotten another one when he polished off the rebound from Jonathan David's header, but VAR spotted the former Montpellier and Marseille man in an offside position before he swept the loose ball beyond Benjamin Leroy (58').
Kevin Spadanuda struck the Lille crossbar (76') from the edge of the area, but that was the closest the visitors came to scoring, drawing a blank for the 18th time this season, and they remain 10 points adrift of safety with their relegation rivals still to play this weekend, while Lille are now six points clear of their nearest challengers, Rennes, for fifth place.
THE PLAYER: Rémy Cabella
The former France international midfielder is playing some of the best football of his career this season, and seems to have built an excellent understanding with Zhegrova in particular to give Lille a creative, razor-sharp cutting edge.
THE STAT: 9
This was Lille's ninth successive win against Ajaccio in the French top flight. They have only ever had a better run of victories once in their history against a single opponent, winning 11 times consecutively against Caen between March 2009 and February 2017.
