Lille found the goal before the night had properly settled at Pierre-Mauroy, then spent the rest of it protecting a fragile advantage. Dilane Bakwa struck in the fifth minute as LOSC edged bottom club Le Havre 1-0, a result that temporarily lifted Davide Ancelotti’s side to the top of Ligue 1.
Bakwa, on loan from Nottingham Forest, calmly finished with his favoured left foot after Tanguy Nianzou split the Le Havre defence with an excellent forward pass. It was Nianzou’s first appearance of the campaign, while Bakwa again delivered at a key moment for his new club. The former Strasbourg winger had scored on his Lille debut in the 2-2 draw with Paris Saint-Germain on August 28 and set up Tiago Santos against Troyes on September 1.
Yet Lille’s early authority quickly faded. Josh Maja missed two clear opportunities for Le Havre in quick succession in the 13th and 14th minutes, while Ally Samatta later drove through the middle before firing over the bar. Lille’s concerns deepened when Santos suffered a right-knee injury following a poorly controlled tackle by Amir Richardson. The defender left on a stretcher in the 22nd minute, with Maxima Goffi taking his place. Richardson escaped a red card despite a challenge that appeared to warrant stronger punishment.
The home side created little before the interval apart from Maurits Kjaergaard’s unsuccessful attempt to turn in Bakwa’s cross in the 45th minute. With Lille short of attacking rhythm, Ancelotti acted just before the hour, bringing on Hakon Haraldsson and Ayase Ueda for Gaëtan Perrin and Olivier Giroud.
Le Havre reduced to ten as Lille hold on
Samatta headed narrowly over shortly after the restart, but Lille were handed a major advantage when Haraldsson broke clear through the centre and Ayumu Seko was dismissed for stopping him. Le Havre played the closing stages with ten men, although Lille still could not turn their territorial control into a more comfortable scoreline.
Nabil Bentaleb came closest to a second goal, curling a long-range left-footed free-kick onto the frame of the goal in the 77th minute. Bakwa remained Lille’s most dangerous forward despite an otherwise unconvincing collective display, carrying the ball forward and creating another opening for Kjaergaard.
The win was enough to erase some of the frustration from Lille’s 2-1 league defeat at Nice on September 20. After opening the season with three victories and a draw, LOSC now sit provisionally first while awaiting Monaco’s home match against Toulouse and Paris FC’s trip to Lorient. Their attention will soon turn to Europe, with Arsenal due to visit on Tuesday at 21:00 in the Champions League; Lille were beaten 3-2 at home by Real Betis on September 8.
For Le Havre, the picture remains bleak. Still without a league win after six rounds, they stay last with two points from two draws and four defeats.
