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Reuters
Reuters
Sport

Lille beat Nantes 2-0 to go top in Ligue 1

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Lille v Nantes - Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille, France - September 25, 2020 Lille players celebrate after the match REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol

Unbeaten Lille went provisionally top of the Ligue 1 table with a comfortable 2-0 home win against Nantes thanks to an own goal and a late penalty on Friday.

Defender Nicolas Pallois deflected a Mehmet Celik strike into his own net and Burak Yilmaz converted a second-half spot kick, putting Lille on 11 points from five games.

They lead St Etienne and Stade Rennes, who meet at Geoffroy Guichard on Saturday, by one point.

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Lille v Nantes - Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille, France - September 25, 2020 Lille's Burak Yilmaz is fouled by Nantes' Dennis Appiah and a penalty is awarded REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol

Nantes, who have not beaten Lille in five years, are 14th on five points.

Lille dominated possession but Nantes were well organised in a solid 4-4-2 and kept the hosts at bay until they cracked as a result of Pallois's unfortunate deflection in the 43rd minute.

The visitors failed to move up a gear after the interval and grew more nervous towards the end, with Dennis Appiah fouling Yilmaz in the box three minutes from time.

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Lille v Nantes - Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille, France - September 25, 2020 Lille's Burak Yilmaz celebrates scoring their second goal REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol

The Turkish striker got up to coolly convert the penalty and secure Lille's third victory of the season.

After the St Etienne v Rennes opener on Saturday, Olympique de Marseille will take on Metz in the late game.

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Lille v Nantes - Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille, France - September 25, 2020 Nantes' Nicolas Pallois scores an own goal and the first goal for Lille REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Ken Ferris)

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Lille v Nantes - Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille, France - September 25, 2020 Lille fans wearing protective face masks in the stands before the match REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol
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