Ancelotti's Lille climb to Ligue 1 summit after routine home win over Troyes

[p]Early positivity around [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/lille/pfDZL71o/"]Lille[/a]’s status as pre-weekend leaders was somewhat tempered by a disappointing UEFA Champions League defeat to Real Betis in midweek.[/p][p]Yet, Lille dominated possession against a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/troyes/fsfAHubD/"]Troyes[/a] side that was reluctant to overcommit after a 6-2 thrashing by Strasbourg seven days ago, and it looked like Davide Ancelotti’s men had forged ahead inside just two minutes, when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bakwa-dilane/x4JfNzq1/"]Dilane Bakwa[/a]’s shot rattled off the post directly into the path of Hakor Arnar Haraldsson, who slotted it into an open net.[/p][p]VAR rained on their parade, however, ruling it out for one of the tightest offsides they’re likely to see all season.[/p][p]Les Dogues’ intricate passing and patient build-up play only continued regardless, but it was a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/santos-tiago/vBypn8GA/"]Tiago Santos[/a] wonder goal that opened the scoring.[/p][p][b]The full-back received the ball from Bakwa just outside of Troyes’ box, and he curled it well beyond [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/beach-patrick/d6MmYtl5/"]Patrick Beach[/a] into the left-side netting.[/b][/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="9fcf3c11-c4de-4c8e-8235-451414dd6465" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="a02c935a-cccb-4cfc-af12-77bb25b6a833" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p]Three minutes later, the ball was in the back of L'ESTAC’s net for a third time. Again, Lille carved them open when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/basar-onal/E5J0klxS/"]Basar Onal[/a]’s low cross was bundled in by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/diaz-michel/UmQAaj9U/"]Michel Diaz[/a] for what looked like an own goal, but the Lille ace was flagged for offside.[/p][p]Troyes offered little to nothing going forward for much of the first half, having four shots, all of which were off target. [/p][p]Ultimately, Stephane Dumont’s side were fortunate to go into half-time just one goal down, and they reacted to his advice well, with some nice play down the left wing through [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ouzenadji-anis/IT83vGhn/"]Anis Ouzenadji[/a] early in the second half, though Lille were more than happy to soak up that early pressure.[/p][p]Still, Ancelotti wanted more shortly after, bringing on [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/giroud-olivier/AJPBp2as/"]Olivier Giroud[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/perrin-gaetan/GMQ5M5dn/"]Gaetan Perrin[/a], and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mbappe-ethan/OADlCrGQ/"]Ethan Mbappe[/a], who had been shown a straight red card for elbowing a Real Betis player just four days previously.[/p][p]Completely changing his side’s front four seemed to have the desired effect. Just moments after his introduction, Perrin was threaded through by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kjaergaard-maurits/0nrO9gb3/"]Kjaergaard[/a], but Troyes keeper Beach reacted well and just about got to the ball before the Lille man. [/p][p][b]In the 93rd minute, however, Mbappe put the win beyond any doubt with his first of the season. [/b][/p][embed guid="2259ed55-dc32-416f-9b8f-62a0e1f45423" url="https://x.com/Ligue1_ENG/status/2099150290117091498" social-type="twitter" /][p]Though Lille couldn’t sustain their early momentum, their first home win of the campaign was a deserved one, though Dumont can also take heart from his side’s performance and the way they nullified the home side for a large portion of the game.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bentaleb-nabil/UVRm5Kjk/"]Nabil Bentaleb[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/lille/pfDZL71o/"]Lille[/a])[/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/lille-pfDZL71o/troyes-fsfAHubD/summary/stats/?mid=EVVF4G0T"]Catch up on the match stats with Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p][infobox id="fdf30c7d-dae1-4aa9-a0fc-da9a5ca820f7" /]