LILLE: Two goals from Edon Zhegrova earned Lille a 2-1 home win over RC Lens in the Derby du Nord on Friday, to move them provisionally into third place in Ligue 1.

The home victory at a full Stade Pierre-Mauroy took Lille to 46 points, overtaking AS Monaco on goal difference, and one point behind Brest who play Lorient on Sunday. Lens remain sixth on 42 points.

Lille also have a quarter-final of the Europa League Conference to contend with against Aston Villa (on April 11 and 18).

The home side soaked up the early Lens pressure before opening the scoring in the ninth minute. Nabil Bentaleb floated a long pass which Zhegrova controlled perfectly before taking the ball into the area, sidestepping Facundo Medina and firing past Brice Samba at the near post.

Lens looked in further trouble when Medina was shown the red card for a foul on Zhegrova in the 34th minute, but a VAR check overturned the decision. For all their effort, the visitors were unable to get a shot on target in the first half.

Zhegrova doubled Lille’s lead on the hour mark. Gabriel Gudmundsson went past Przemyslaw Frankowski on the left wing, made his way into the box and when Samba saved his effort with an outstretched leg, Zhegrova was there to convert the rebound.

Lens pulled a goal back with 12 minutes left to play, Elye Wahi collecting a pass from Medina and his left footed shot beat Lucas Chevalier for his fifth goal in his last six games, but they were unable to find an equaliser.

On Sunday, Kylian Mbappe is set to sample the fiercest rivalry in French football for the final time before his expected departure at the end of the season as Paris St Germain make the trip to Olympique de Marseille.

There is no love lost between the two biggest clubs in France, even if Marseille have struggled to compete with PSG for honours since the Qatari takeover of the capital side over a decade ago.

The Parisians come into this game with a huge 12-point lead at the top of the table from nearest challengers Brest with just eight matches remaining, meaning Mbappe is surely certain to win a sixth title in seven seasons with the club.

Published in Dawn, March 31st, 2024