After beating around the bush against Wolfsburg (0-0), surrendered against Salzburg (1-2) and disappointed in their third outing (0-0), Lille raised their heads on Tuesday, November 2. Traveling to Seville, with an opponent who had forced them to remain silent, the Mastiffs signed a crucial success (2-1), which places them in a favorable position within Group G for qualification for the final phase.
“Frankly, it’s exceptional. I was looking forward to this moment. We believed in it from the start and today is the confirmation [de ce qu’on est capable de faire]”, reacted hot Jonathan Ikoné at the microphone of Canal +. Thanks to their goal in the second period, Losc was able to end a series of 10 games without a win in the most prestigious European competition, a famine that had lasted for nine years and a trip to the BATE Borisov in November 2012 (2-0 ).
Opportunistic, the French international (4 caps, 1 goal) was the most biting after a strike from his teammate Zeki Çelik pushed back by the post (51st) to change the match. “We showed that we were hungry. It was played at will. We were able to come back to mark the second ”, analyzed the latter, trophy for best player of the match under the elbow. This is the first time in its history that Losc has managed to win a C1 match after being behind.
Because the evening had started rather badly for the Northerners, cooled by Lucas Ocampos from the 15th minute after a favorable counter and a badly returned shot. Everything seemed reunited for a new missed appointment. Three minutes later, the referee of the match refused to award a penalty after an almost indisputable foul on Jonathan David (17th) in the Andalusian area. But Lille kept the resources to return to the score, obtaining a penalty, however less obvious just before the break (43rd), transformed by Jonathan David.
“We needed to redo what we had done at the Park, but taking 90 minutes.”
Jocelyn Gourvennecin press conference
In a press conference, Jocelyn Gourvennec insisted on the performance achieved by his players: “We can say that it is an achievement because they are intractable at home (0 home defeat this season before Tuesday evening). They are very hard to play and we answered this “. After experiencing the opposite scenario against Paris in Ligue 1 last Friday (1-2), his team made a new interesting copy, this time being rewarded.
“We showed a collective discipline associated with efficiency. We never got out of our game. We needed to redo what we had done at the Park, but taking 90 minutes. In the locker room, there was joy, smiles, but no euphoria “, added the coach of the Mastiffs, to whom there are now two games left to snatch a qualification for the final phase against the leader Salzburg (2 points ahead) and Wolfsburg, currently 3rd tied on points with Lille.
With Hortense Leblanc in Seville.