Football news - Yilmaz and Celik strike as Lille stay on title track with victory over Nice
ByReuters
Published 01/05/2021 at 21:10 GMT
Lille stayed firmly on track for a first Ligue 1 title since 2011 when goals by Burak Yilmaz and Mehmet Zeki Celik sent them back to the top of the table with a 2-0 home win against 10-man Nice on Saturday. Turkey internationals Yilmaz and Celik each scored to secure the three points for the home side.
Turkey internationals Yilmaz and Celik put Christophe Galtier's team on 76 points with three games left after champions Paris St Germain briefly topped the standings with a 2-1 home win against RC Lens earlier on Saturday.
Lille lead PSG by one point and third-placed AS Monaco, who host fourth-placed Olympique Lyonnais on Sunday, by five.
Nice, who had Jordan Lotomba sent off three minutes into the second half, are ninth on 46 points.
Lille got off to a fine start with Yilmaz breaking the deadlock in the 13th minute, firing home a low shot from 18 metres after collecting a pass from Jonathan David.
Nice, who failed to muster a single attempt throughout the game, went down to 10 men when Lotomba picked up a second yellow card for a rough challenge on Jonathan Bamba and with him went their hopes of a comeback.
Celik added a second for Lille in the 56th minute with a superb volley from outside the area before another Yilmaz strike crashed against the post eight minutes later.
Lille next face fifth-placed arch-rivals RC Lens away while PSG travel to Stade Rennes.
Join 3M+ users on app
Download
Scan me
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement