Lille 1 - 1 Brest: Pirates contain hungry champions

An entertaining 1-1 draw played out between the northerners as reigning champions Lille OSC maintained their undefeated streak against Stade Brestois in seven H2H Ligue 1 encounters at home (W5, D2), and look to make it to Europe next season.

Winless in Ligue 1 this season (D5, L5), Brest started like a side eager to prove a point as their main talisman Romain Faivre took the first opportunity of the match with a cracking freekick that was impressively saved by Lille goalkeeper Ivo Grbić. 

The 20th minute witnessed Jonathan David superbly net a composed finish after receiving an unerring defence-splitting pass from centre-back José Fonte. Relentlessly looking to double their lead, an unlucky defensive lapse saw Lille concede from Faivre’s deflected freekick as 'Les Pirates’ registered their longest ever scoring streak in the French top division - 11 games in a row - having netted in every league game so far this campaign.

Having already lost four times this campaign, one more than the entirety of their previous title-winning season, ‘Les Dogues’ looked eager to avoid another defeat, only to find themselves head-on against a re-energized Brest side who had just scored for the first time in five trips to the Stade Pierre-Mauroy. 

A constant barrage of attacks from the hosts did little to distract Brest, who did not hesitate to sit deep and invite counter-attacking opportunities at the expense of Lille’s craving to please the crowd to their fourth straight Ligue 1 home win. Firing on all fronts, both teams tried hard to find an opening until the final minute, finally settling for a stalemate that makes little difference in their respective league standings.

The result sees Lille sit in ninth place with 15 points, level with Rennes, who still have a game in hand. Meanwhile, Brest risked falling to their fourth defeat in five matches but managed to scrape through with a draw that leaves them lying in eighteenth position in the relegation zone, and still in search of their first win after eleven match days.