Ligue 1 Wrap: Lille miss chance to go second, Marseille come from behind at Evian

Lille wasted a chance to go second in Ligue 1 as they fell to a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Reims on Sunday.

Monaco’s failure to beat lowly Montpellier on Friday handed Lille the opportunity to climb above them with three points against Reims.

However, after the first half ended goalless, Odair Fortes broke the deadlock against the run of play in bizarre fashion in the 71st minute.

Djibril Sidibe’s attempted clearance struck Fortes on the head before bouncing beyond helpless goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama.

Reims’ unlikely victory came a step closer to reality five minutes later, when Grzegorz Krychowiak nodded home from a corner, before an Anthony Weber own goal gave Lille hope.

But, despite enjoying more than 60 per cent of the possession and outplaying their opponents for much of the encounter, Lille were forced to leave empty handed.

Marseille, meanwhile, climbed to fifth in the French top flight after coming from behind to record a 2-1 victory over Evian.

Modou Sougou gave Evian the lead in the 15th minute, but the hosts were soon pegged back as Benoit Cheyrou found the net with a long-range effort seven minutes later.

Andre Pierre-Gignac then atoned for missing a glorious opportunity in the opening stages of the match by netting the winning goal in the 39th minute.

Marseille have now gone five unbeaten in all competitions.

In the day’s other game, Ismael Bangura scored an 89th-minute winner for Nantes as they recorded a 1-0 triumph over Lorient to go sixth in the league.