Lille's Alexsandro rains on the Toulouse parade
As they celebrated the club’s 86th anniversary, Toulouse looked to make it one to remember against a Lille side hoping to avoid a third consecutive Ligue 1 draw for the first time since November 2021. It was the celebrating hosts with the first chance of the game, too, as Farès Chaïbi forced Lucas Chevalier into his first save of the afternoon.
The visitors were not without chances of their own in the first-half however, as Adam Ounas dragged his shot wide of the right-hand post. The story of the opening period was decided by neither team though, as the heavy downpour, which temporarily suspended the action, stole the headlines at Stadium de Toulouse. Following the restart after the weather delay, the chances kept coming at both ends, the best of which fell the way of the in-form Thijs Dallinga, whose powerful strike from the edge of the area could only slam against the left-hand post and away to safety before the break.
Toulouse continued to search for an opening goal after HT, but Chevalier remained relatively untroubled by simple efforts fired his way. It was the hosts’ defensive work which was even more impressive however, given Lille’s record as the third-highest scorers in Ligue 1 this season, as well as Jonathan David’s as the league’s joint-top goalscorer so far this season.
With Lille’s excellent record in front of goal, a goal always seemed likely, and the Mastiffs finally broke the deadlock in the 86th minute through unlikely goal scorer Alexsandro, whose bullet header nestled perfectly inside the post to seal all three points for the visitors, a victory cemented by a stoppage time second from Mohamed Bayo as Lille climbed into the European places.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Alexsandro (Lille)