Ethan Mbappe’s early goal secured a 1-0 win for Lille over Marseille, preventing the visitors from going top of the French league.
ETHAN Mbappe, the younger brother of France and Real Madrid star Kylian, scored the only goal of the game as Lille prevented Marseille from going top of Ligue 1 on Friday.
Mbappe, who also scored in a 1-1 draw with champions Paris Saint-Germain in October, netted the winner with the first clear chance of the game.
Latching onto a ball over the top from Nabil Bentaleb, Mbappe capitalised after Marseille goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli’s rash dash to the edge of his box after just 10 minutes.
ALSO READ: PSG maintain perfect Ligue 1 start as Ethan Mbappe scores late for Lille
Lille had the better of the opening stages but were indebted to goalkeeper Berke Ozer for a pair of stunning saves in the second half to deny English forward Mason Greenwood and Geoffrey Kondogbia.
Marseille coach Roberto De Zerbi was dumbfounded by his team’s poor performance.
“I am really annoyed, I wasn’t expecting a match like that,” he said. “We lost all of the second balls, we couldn’t string three passes together, we never got to the ball first.
“Our dribbling didn’t work… we weren’t as aggressive as we usually are. From the first minute to the last, we played passively.”
The defeat left Marseille third, ahead of Lille on goal-difference and two points behind leaders Lens, who travel to Nantes on Saturday, when European champions PSG, in second, host Rennes. – AFP
