Lille move third in Ligue 1 after comeback win over Nice

Lille moved up to third in the Ligue 1 table on Friday after coming from behind to beat Nice 2-1 at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy.

The hosts scored twice in the second half through Hakon Haraldsson and Bafode Diakite to earn their first win since early December.

Sofiane Diop had given Nice a deserved lead in the 29th minute, pouncing on Lucas Chevalier's parry to knock the ball into the empty net from very close range.

The visitors almost got another just before half-time, but Tanguy Ndombele, at full stretch following a corner, could only volley it against the crossbar from point-blank range.

Haraldsson pulled Lille level three minutes into the second half, whipping it into the near post before Diakite scored the winner in the 63rd minute, profiting from a fortunate bounce before firing it into the roof of the net.

Nice had chances to win it but only scored with one of their four 'big' opportunities (they created 2.87 expected goals to Lille's 1.02) and their wastefulness cost them as they slipped to fifth in the table, while Lille extended their unbeaten run in the league to 14 matches.

FULL-TIME: LOSC 2-1 OGC Nice This team The come from behind win takes us up to third! See you in Liverpool on Tuesday in the Champions League #LOSCOGCN 2-1 I 90' pic.twitter.com/FDNsPVL0Fy

— LOSC (@LOSC_EN) January 17, 2025

Earlier on Friday, Monaco also failed to move up the table as they suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to bottom-of-the-table Montpellier, who earned their first win since November 10.

Like Nice, they had taken a first-half lead around the half-hour mark but were undone by second-half goals as their winless run extended to four matches in Ligue 1.

Thilo Kehrer latched onto Lamine Camara's cross to head Monaco in front in the 32nd minute, but Mousa Al Ta'mari flipped the game on its head.

He scored his first in the 55th minute from inside the six-yard box and got the winner eight minutes from time, knocking Arnaud Nordin's cross into the back of the net.

Soungoutou Magassa had the chance to put Monaco back in front nine minutes before that, but his header rebounded off the woodwork for their best second-half opportunity.

Monaco slipped to fourth in the table after Lille's win, and though Montpellier remain bottom, they are now just four points from safety ahead of the rest of the weekend’s matches.