Lille OSC suffered a third defeat in a row across all competitions yesterday evening as they lost 1-0 to AS Saint-Étienne at the Stade Geoffrey-Guichard. Lille had dominated possession against the newly promoted side recording a 72% share of the ball. However, their final delivery and finishing left a lot to be desired.
Lille were far too wasteful and their usual reliable stars struggled to impact the match. Edon Zhegrova, Tiago Santos, and even the substitute Jonathan David had forgettable games that left a lot to be desired. And by the end of the 90 minutes, there was a sense that the team were tired and frustrated with each other.
This frustration was reflected in the post-match words of club president Olivier Létang, “I’m going to try to weigh my words, we played a shameful match. It’s shameful!” The president repeated, “It’s shameful! We can’t be a great team by losing three matches in a row. We’re not going to get those points back. Who can tell me that the players wanted to win tonight? Can someone tell me? I don’t condone their attitude.”
Létang continued his point, “If we’re going to play in the Champions League, it’s because we’ve played well in Ligue 1. That’s our daily bread. Do you think we’re going to perform well with attitudes like that? I’ll tell you right away, it’s not possible… If these unacceptable behaviours [are shown again], we won’t win many matches in Ligue 1. And in the Champions League, we’re going to take some beatings.”
Lille begin their Champions League campaign on Tuesday with a visit to Lisbon where they will face Sporting CP and it’s clear that Létang will be hoping for a response from his side.
