Roux scores twice as Lille leapfrog Monaco, go second

AP, PARIS





Nolan Roux scored twice as LOSC Lille Metropole beat AS Monaco 2-0 on Sunday to leapfrog their opponents into second place in Ligue 1.

Roux scored from close range in the 27th minute before finishing off a counterattack in the 72nd.

Lille kept a seventh straight clean sheet in the league to stay two points behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain, while Monaco lost a second straight match after a 1-0 defeat at Stade de Reims in the third round of the Coupe de la Ligue on Wednesday last week.

LOSC Lille Metropole’s Nolan Roux, second left, scores past AS Monaco goalkeeper Danijel Subasic, right, in their Ligue 1 match in Villeneuve d’Ascq, France, on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

“It’s a great result,” Lille captain Rio Mavuba said. “After two rounds, we were not even thinking about being placed between Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco.”

Also on Sunday, Nantes drew 1-1 at Montpellier Herault to consolidate fourth place and OGC Nice suffered their first home defeat by losing 2-1 to Girondins de Bordeaux.

Monaco playmaker Joao Moutinho created the first chance after five minutes with a drive from the edge of the penalty area that was punched away by Lille goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama.

The hosts then capitalized on a corner to open the scoring in the 27th minute when Lille centerback Marko Basa outjumped the Monaco defense to win a header that Roux flicked home.

Lille defender Simon Kjaer nearly put his team in trouble with a weak back-pass in the 36th minute, but Enyeama came off his line to beat Monaco winger Yannick Ferreira Carrasco to the ball and clear the danger. Radamel Falcao pounced on the loose ball, but the Monaco striker could only shoot over the bar despite an empty net.

Roux nearly added a second goal on the stroke of halftime, but Monaco goalkeeper Danijel Subasic palmed away the cross-shot from the Lille striker.

Monaco coach Claudio Ranieri added more firepower by replacing Carrasco with forward Emmanuel Riviere in the 46th minute.

“We had a poor first half,” Riviere said. “Then we had chances to rally. Unfortunately their ’keeper made great saves.”

Riviere collected a through-ball from James Rodriguez to be clean through on goal in the 67th minute, but was denied by Enyeama. The Monaco goalkeeper protected his team’s lead by stopping a powerful strike from Falcao in the 71st.

A few seconds later, Salomon Kalou punished Monaco’s attempts to push forward by leading a counterattack. Kalou released Mavuba down the left wing and the Lille captain made a low cross for Roux, who tapped in.

Enyeama showed his class in stoppage-time with a double save, first parrying an angled strike from Falcao, before stretching on the ground to prevent Riviere from converting the rebound.

Meanwhile, Serbian striker Filip Djordjevic put Nantes ahead in the 22nd minute with his seventh goal of the season, diverting in a shot from his teammate Issa Cissokho, but Montpellier substitute Djamel Bakar equalized with a low strike into the bottom corner in the 90th minute.

“Although we opened the scoring, Montpellier imposed their game,” Nantes coach Michel der Zakarian said. “Our ball retention was poor and they were stronger in duels.”

Montpellier ended a three-match losing streak, but slipped to 16th place.

“A draw is still better than nothing, but we can be disappointed tonight because we did everything in the second half to come away with the three points,” Montpellier coach Jean Fernandez said.

At the Stade Allianz Riviera, Bordeaux midfielder Gregory Sertic fired into the top corner from long range in the 31st minute and Ludovic Obraniak doubled the lead with another long-range strike in the 59th.

Argentine striker Dario Cvitanich scored his seventh goal of the season from the penalty spot after Bordeaux defender Lucas Orban had fouled Alexy Bosetti in the 77th minute.

“We stuck together in the hard times,” Bordeaux midfielder Ludovic Obraniak said. “We knew we had a quality squad, but we were making positional mistakes.”

“We played poorly in the first half,” Nice coach Claude Puel said. “Bordeaux pressed high up the pitch and we were not able to adjust. We lost confidence little by little.”