Early positivity around Lille’s status as pre-weekend leaders was somewhat tempered by a disappointing UEFA Champions League defeat to Real Betis in midweek.
Yet, Lille dominated possession against a Troyes side that was reluctant to overcommit after a 6-2 thrashing by Strasbourg seven days ago, and it looked like Davide Ancelotti’s men had forged ahead inside just two minutes, when Dilane Bakwa’s shot rattled off the post directly into the path of Hakor Arnar Haraldsson, who slotted it into an open net.
VAR rained on their parade, however, ruling it out for one of the tightest offsides they’re likely to see all season.
Les Dogues’ intricate passing and patient build-up play only continued regardless, but it was a Tiago Santos wonder goal that opened the scoring.
The full-back received the ball from Bakwa just outside of Troyes’ box, and he curled it well beyond Patrick Beach into the left-side netting.
Three minutes later, the ball was in the back of L'ESTAC’s net for a third time. Again, Lille carved them open when Basar Onal’s low cross was bundled in by Michel Diaz for what looked like an own goal, but the Lille ace was flagged for offside.
Troyes offered little to nothing going forward for much of the first half, having four shots, all of which were off target.
Ultimately, Stephane Dumont’s side were fortunate to go into half-time just one goal down, and they reacted to his advice well, with some nice play down the left wing through Anis Ouzenadji early in the second half, though Lille were more than happy to soak up that early pressure.
Still, Ancelotti wanted more shortly after, bringing on Olivier Giroud, Gaetan Perrin, and Ethan Mbappe, who had been shown a straight red card for elbowing a Real Betis player just four days previously.
Completely changing his side’s front four seemed to have the desired effect. Just moments after his introduction, Perrin was threaded through by Kjaergaard, but Troyes keeper Beach reacted well and just about got to the ball before the Lille man.
In the 93rd minute, however, Mbappe put the win beyond any doubt with his first of the season.
Though Lille couldn’t sustain their early momentum, their first home win of the campaign was a deserved one, though Dumont can also take heart from his side’s performance and the way they nullified the home side for a large portion of the game.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Nabil Bentaleb (Lille)