PARIS — Hakon Arnar Haraldsson achieved his first double in the French league as Lille defeated Monaco 2-1 on Saturday, allowing Lille to surpass their rivals and secure third place in the league standings.
With 41 points, Lille is now one point ahead of their competitors, Nice and Monaco. Nice, currently in fourth place, has a match in hand and will face off against struggling Montpellier on Sunday.
Lille started the match strong at Pierre Mauroy Stadium, breaking the deadlock in the 22nd minute thanks to a smooth team play that culminated in Haraldsson scoring. He received a set-up from Ngal’ayel Mukau, making an unchallenged advance towards the goal and placing a precise shot from the edge of the box into the far corner.
Monaco responded well and nearly equalized around the 30-minute mark when Eliesse Ben Seghir attempted a shot with the outside of his foot that narrowly missed the target after Vanderson’s low cross. However, Monaco maintained its season-long trend of shortsighted errors, as a careless pass from Wilfred Singo to Denis Zakaria contributed to Lille’s second goal. Under pressure in the box, Zakaria lost possession by sliding, and Haraldsson capitalized on the rebound after goalkeeper Rados?aw Majecki managed to deflect his earlier attempt.
Haraldsson, who joined Lille in July 2023 from FC Copenhagen, has now netted four league goals this season.
Monaco didn’t give up, and just before halftime, Takumi Minamino gave them a glimmer of hope by scoring. Off Krépin Diatta’s cross, Maghnes Akliouche headed the ball into Mika Biereth’s path, whose clever back-heel found Minamino, allowing the Japanese midfielder to finish from close range.
Following their Champions League exit this week with a playoff loss to Benfica, Monaco is now winless in their last six league matches away from home.
In another surprising outcome, second-placed Marseille missed a vital opportunity to close the gap with league leaders PSG by suffering a 3-0 defeat at Auxerre. This match marked another setback for Marseille, which had earlier lost 3-1 in the reverse fixture last November.
Attempting to capture their fourth consecutive win, Marseille was instead caught off guard near the half-hour mark. Gaëtan Perrin skillfully maneuvered inside the box, curling the ball beautifully into the opposite corner to give the hosts the lead.
Things worsened for Auxerre when they went down to ten men in the 63rd minute due to Derek Cornelius’ sending-off. Nonetheless, they went on to score two more goals in the last quarter of the match, both courtesy of Brazilian defender Jubal, who netted one penalty. This victory was Auxerre’s first in nearly three months.
PSG has the chance to extend its lead over Marseille to 13 points if they can secure a win against Lyon on Sunday.
In another thrilling clash, Bamba Dieng, an Angers forward, salvaged a last-minute equalizer in a six-goal thriller against struggling Saint-Etienne, resulting in a 3-3 draw. Himad Abdelli kicked off Angers’ scoring with two goals, including a penalty early in the seventh minute.
Irvin Cardona of Saint-Etienne also found the net twice, with his second goal in the 74th minute putting the hosts in a leading position until Farid El Melali was fouled in the box. Dieng successfully converted the responsibility from the penalty spot, earning Angers a valuable point.
The atmosphere remained tense even after the final whistle, as tensions flared between the coaching staff of both teams, leading to a physical scuffle involving players and team members. Following the match, Saint-Etienne remained in 16th place in the 18-team league, eight points behind Angers.
