- Burak Yilmaz (13')
- Zeki Celik (56')
- Jordan Lotomba (48')
Yilmaz and Celik strike as Lille stay on title track
Lille stayed firmly on track for a first Ligue 1 title since 2011 when goals by Burak Yilmaz and Mehmet Zeki Celik sent them back to the top of the table with a 2-0 home win against 10-man Nice on Saturday.
Turkey internationals Yilmaz and Celik put Christophe Galtier's team on 76 points with three games left after champions Paris Saint-Germain briefly topped the standings with a 2-1 home win against Lens earlier on Saturday.
Lille lead PSG by one point and third-placed AS Monaco, who host fourth-placed Lyon on Sunday, by five.
Nice, who had Jordan Lotomba sent off three minutes into the second half, are ninth on 46 points.
Lille got off to a fine start with Yilmaz breaking the deadlock in the 13th minute, firing home a low shot from 18 metres after collecting a pass from Jonathan David.
Nice, who failed to muster a single attempt throughout the game, went down to 10 men when Lotomba picked up a second yellow card for a rough challenge on Jonathan Bamba and with him went their hopes of a comeback.
Celik added a second for Lille in the 56th minute with a superb volley from outside the area before another Yilmaz strike crashed against the post eight minutes later.
Lille next face fifth-placed arch-rivals RC Lens away while PSG travel to Stade Rennes.
Game Information
French Ligue 1 Standings
Team | GP | W | D | L | GD | P |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Paris Saint-Germain | 29 | 19 | 9 | 1 | +44 | 66 |
AS Monaco | 29 | 16 | 7 | 6 | +17 | 55 |
Brest | 30 | 15 | 8 | 7 | +15 | 53 |
Lille | 29 | 14 | 10 | 5 | +18 | 52 |
Nice | 29 | 13 | 8 | 8 | +9 | 47 |
Lens | 30 | 13 | 7 | 10 | +7 | 46 |
Stade Rennais | 30 | 11 | 9 | 10 | +8 | 42 |
Lyon | 30 | 12 | 5 | 13 | -10 | 41 |
Marseille | 29 | 10 | 10 | 9 | +8 | 40 |
Stade de Reims | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | -4 | 40 |
Toulouse | 30 | 9 | 10 | 11 | -3 | 37 |
Montpellier | 30 | 9 | 10 | 11 | -4 | 36 |
Strasbourg | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | -8 | 36 |
Nantes | 30 | 9 | 4 | 17 | -20 | 31 |
Metz | 30 | 8 | 5 | 17 | -18 | 29 |
Le Havre AC | 30 | 6 | 10 | 14 | -11 | 28 |
Lorient | 29 | 6 | 8 | 15 | -20 | 26 |
Clermont Foot | 30 | 4 | 10 | 16 | -28 | 22 |