Lille ease past Angers to open season cleanly despite noise around Bouaddi
Lille stretched their unbeaten run in Ligue 1 opening matches to 10 games with a comfortable 2-0 away win over Angers, who now have only their 2nd opening-day defeat in 7 top-flight seasons.
It was not a spectacular performance from Lille, but it was efficient, mature and more than enough against an Angers side that already looks a little uneasy after a quiet summer.
Match highlight
With fears of a relegation fight already bubbling around the club, Angers could hardly have wanted a worse start. Lille took full advantage too, going ahead after just 11 minutes when Olivier Giroud dropped deep, picked up the ball and drilled a precise finish into the bottom corner from around 25 yards.
It was a lovely strike, but also a warning of how much room Angers were giving away.
To their credit, the hosts did have a chance to respond. Midway through the first half, Anthony Bermont ghosted into the box and met a Yassin Belkhdim delivery on the volley, only to send it over the bar from a very promising position.
Just 5 minutes later, Lille doubled the lead. Tiago Santos had already tested Anthony Lopes seconds earlier, but Angers failed to deal properly with the next wave of pressure. After Hakon Haraldsson's initial shot was blocked, Santos reacted first and found the bottom corner.
At 2-0, the game was already leaning heavily Lille's way.
Angers' problem is that they do not carry much margin for error at home anyway. Coming into this match, they had the 2nd-lowest home scoring record across Europe's top 5 leagues in 2026, so chasing from behind against a side as organised as Lille was always going to be difficult.
Jacques Ekomie fired over 10 minutes into the 2nd half, and Prosper Peter then managed to waste 2 huge chances in almost identical fashion, twice finding himself free inside the area and twice shooting straight at Berke Ozer.
If Angers were ever going to make Lille sweat, it had to happen there. Instead, they let the visitors survive the pressure and drift back into control.
Lille even thought they had wrapped it up completely late on when Santos scored again, only for the goal to be ruled out because Felix Correia was judged to have blocked Ozer's view.
Lille still got the clean result and, in doing so, set a new club record with a 7th consecutive away win in the top flight.
