AS Nancy Vs. Lille: Eden Hazard Goal Leads Lille To Victory

That wasn’t a classic by any stretch of the imagination but ultimately Ligue Un leaders Lille will depart the Stade Marcel Picot happy at having earned all three points. An ultra-defensive AS Nancy side seemed to be playing for the point, and they were succeeding in keeping the visitors at bay until the very end of the first half, when Belgian starlet Eden Hazard whipped in a free kick that evaded Damien Gregorini and crashed into the side netting to give Lille the advantage.

Nancy, who had managed three shots in the first half, were forced to attack in the second, and came close to levelling several times, most notably when Jonathan Brison fired just with in the 77th minute. However, for all of their huffing and puffing in and around Lille’s penalty box, the hosts didn’t force Mickael Landreau into a single serious save, and Lille were left to see the game out relatively comfortably. Aside from all the fouls, that is - a rough estimate has the foul count as one every two-and-a-half minutes. Like I said, not a classic.