Lille Comeback Stuns Red Star, Reach UEL Round of 16
Lille reach Europa League last 16 after 2-0 win over Crvena Zvezda in extra time. Nathan Ngoy scores decisive goal as Lille secure back-to-back wins.
The teams were level across 180 minutes, so extra-time was needed. Lille got the decisive goal in the 99th minute...
Red Star Belgrade's six-game unbeaten run in the UEFA Europa League came to an end as they lost 2-0 to Lille in extra time. The Serbian side had won five and drawn one of their previous six games in the competition.
Coincidentally, Red Star had started that unbeaten run with a 1-0 win over Lille in the UEL league phase, the same scoreline by which they beat Lille in last week's knockout-phase play-off first leg.
The Serbian side weren't just sitting on their lead, and they showed intent early on. They had the first shot on target less than 90 seconds in, even if it was easily held by visiting goalkeeper Berke Ozer.
But the home fans at Stadion Rajko Mitic were stunned just four minutes in when Lille captain Benjamin Andre’s pinpoint cross was powered home by 39-year-old Olivier Giroud.
Red Star were unable to mount an impressive response for the rest of the first half. Their passing and touch often let them down, and Lille comfortably kept them at bay before the break.
The hosts' biggest opening in that time came when Ozer's risky pass was intercepted on the edge of his own box, but thankfully for the Turk, he wasn't punished.
At the other end, Giroud wasted an opportunity to double his tally not long before the break. Red Star's Brazilian stopper Matheus got down low to deny him, then repelled Matias Fernandez-Pardo twice before the interval.
Red Star head coach Dejan Stankovic made a double change ahead of the second period, with Marko Arnautovic, the match-winner in November’s league-phase victory over Lille, one of the two players introduced.
The reigning Serbian champions started to look more threatening, but Ozer was only first tested properly in the 78th minute when he pawed away Seol Young-Woo’s strike.
Red Star had a late chance to win it in normal time. Vasilije Kostov charged down the right wing, but the teenager's cross went straight to Ozer, lacking the composure needed in that moment.
The teams were level across 180 minutes, so extra-time was needed. Lille got the decisive goal in the 99th minute when Romain Perraud's clearance was flicked on by Giroud into the path of Fernandez-Pardo, securing their win.
Lille progress after an away win in Belgrade 😤#UEL pic.twitter.com/0Cfv4ssUf5
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) February 26, 2026
The Belgian drove to the byline and cut the ball back to Felix Correia, whose pass into the path of recent substitute Nathan Ngoy was finished with aplomb by the defender.
Rodrigao will feel that he should have blocked the shot, and although Red Star talisman Aleksandar Katai was subsequently thrown on, they could not come back as Arnautovic saw his header saved before Correia was thwarted by Matheus.
The defeat marked the first loss under Stankovic's era, which began in December.
Lille's win marked their first back-to-back victories across all competitions in over two months, giving their season a much-needed boost.
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