Ligue 1: Lille temporarily on the podium after its victory at Metz 2-1

Losc (55 points) took advantage of this victory at the start of the afternoon to take third place, directly qualifying for the C1, in Brest (53 points), and put pressure on the Finistère club, which is playing in a Breton derby in Rennes (5:05 p.m.). At the other end of the ranking, this Lille victory puts Metz (29 points) back in trouble: after two consecutive victories bringing hope, the Grenats are once again in the relegation zone, in sixteenth place synonymous with a play-off, because of the draw obtained by Le Havre in Paris (3-3) on Saturday.

It now seems written that these two clubs will fight to the end for their very distinct ambitions. With three matches remaining in the season, the Mastiffs have taken another step towards theirs, the prestigious and lucrative Champions League. That's the main thing because the content of the match was not great. The Mastiffs were at least able to bite when they had the opportunities and were solid defensively, despite an initial blunder from Nabil Bentaleb, who was usually serious.

The midfielder was guilty of a handball in his own area, giving Georges Mikautadze the opportunity to score his eleventh goal of the season - and his sixth in the last four matches - with a very penalty (23rd). well hit. But the one who put on his hero's costume in recent weeks in the operation to maintain the Moselle club was not enough this time.

Lille knew how to sting when necessary. Firstly by Ismaily, author of a very good match and on this occasion a climb towards the surface rewarded with a goal, thanks to a pass given at the right tempo by Jonathan David (31st). The Canadian was good in his throws throughout the game, failing to score. Very well constructed, this first goal was followed by a much happier second scored by Yusuf Yazici, in the right place at the right time to recover a ball which was lying around at the penalty point after a free kick (44th).

That was pretty much all in the first period, apart from a strike from Messin Kévin van den Kerkhof (26th) and a nice three-way move between Yazici, David and Edon Zhegrova (30th). The second period was not more exciting in a match without much intensity.

Metz did not manage to rebel, only equalizing at the very end of the match (90th 1) before his goal was refused for an offside position, triggering the ire of the kop Horda Frenetik, who then launched projectiles on the lawn. In addition to the good accounting operation of Lille in this match which seemed like a trap, coach Paulo Fonseca will undoubtedly have appreciated the good technical understanding on the left side between Rémy Cabella, Ismaily, Jonathan David and Yusuf Yazici, who often off hook.

On the other hand, right winger Edon Zhegrova, who had lost his starting place in recent matches, was not as impactful as in the first half of the season, often persisting in a solo effort. But Fonseca will especially remember the victory, precious and with a sweet European scent.