Ligue 1 Review | Lille’s long unbeaten run fuels podium challenge

“It was important to take three points because we dropped a few along the way recently.” Bruno Génésio said with a smile as he spoke to reporters on Friday following Lille OSC’s 3-1 victory over Stade Brestois. It would be easy to imagine that the head coach was being somewhat ironic as Lille recorded their 14th undefeated game in a row. 

It’s hard not to be swept up in the run Les Dogues have been on. Since being defeated on the 17th of September by Sporting CP in the Champions League, Lille have gone unbeaten across all competitions. Génésio has watched his side come out unscathed against almost all their immediate rivals in the league (AS Monaco, Olympique Lyonnais, OGC Nice, and RC Lens), while also defeating Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid, and drawing with Juventus. 

However, there was only a touch of irony in the head coach’s words. Despite the run, Lille have dropped points along the way and it is clearly something that has raised Génésio’s hackles. 

Lille avoid routine 

Lille have a recent tendency to drop points from winning positions. The weekend before last, Lille had twice led against Montpellier HSC and twice squandered their advantage as they drew 2-2 to the bottom-placed team in the league. Similarly, in the matches against Lyon and Nice, Les Dogues had managed to throw away a victory as they allowed their concentration to slip and their opposition a means back into the game. 

The concern for Génésio after the Montpellier draw was that it had become a problem for the team. “When it happens again, three times in a short space of time it’s not necessarily just a coincidence.” And there were some warning signs for the squad that a similar fate awaited them as they entered the second half against Brest. 

In the first half, Lille had cruised to a 2-0 lead with Jonathan David recording his 100th for the club and Hákon Haraldsson finding his first of the season. However, the pause allowed Les Pirates a chance to reset and in the 48th minute they halved the deficit. There was an uncomfortable change at the Stade Pierre Mauroy as the nervousness of familiarity settled in. To Lille’s credit, they didn’t let their heads drop. Génésio made proactive changes and the team looked to manage the game state by slowing down the game. 

A new challenger approaches? 

Jonathan David would record his second of the evening and Lille’s third in the 69th minute to soothe any lingering doubts, and the club would momentarily climb into a podium position dislodging Monaco before the Principality defeated Toulouse on Saturday. Les Dogues would ultimately finish the weekend fourth in Ligue 1. 

And while Génésio was at pains to dismiss that he was paying attention to the league standing, “What interests me is to move forward, the table doesn’t matter to me.” It couldn’t be ignored that if Lille had not lost nine points instead of three in their draws to Montpellier, Nice, and Lyon, the club would be sat in a very favourable position. 

Instead of fourth, Lille would be in second only a point behind Paris Saint-Germain. It’s likely that this has not been lost on Génésio. The club have all the potential to join Monaco and Olympique de Marseille in chasing PSG’s lead this season. However, what has held them back from being in the right space to do so, has been the tendency to lose focus when they are in a winning position. 

This week’s Ligue 1 sub-plots 

• PSG’s struggles continued for another week as the league leaders were held to a 0-0 draw to AJ Auxerre. There are reported tensions behind the scenes between Luis Enrique and his players, and now also between the manager and the sporting advisor and fellow architect of the squad Luís Campos. Read more HERE. 

• Neal Maupay consolidated his grip on the number nine role over Elye Wahi as Marseille narrowed the gap between and PSG to five points on Sunday evening. The former Brentford striker arrived as a backup but the script has flipped. Read the full story HERE.

• Rayan Cherki pounces on the chance to showcase maverick talent at Lyon. The midfielder was in inspired form as he helped the club to a routine 3-0 victory over Angers SCO. Read more HERE.

GFFN | Nick Hartland