Ligue 1: Lille Bounce Back From Betis Defeat To Go Top With Troyes Win

Lille end home drought to reach Ligue 1 summit  

Ancelotti’s Lille go top of Ligue 1 with 2-0 win over Troyes. Santos wonder goal and Mbappe strike send Lille top.

Lille back on top after routine home victory against Troyes...

Carlo Ancelotti’s Lille climbed to the top of Ligue 1 with a routine 2-0 home win over newly-promoted Troyes, ending a four-game winless streak at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy. The result moves them level on points with Monaco and Rennes at the summit.  

The positivity of leading Ligue 1 was tempered by a flat UEFA Champions League defeat to Real Betis in midweek.

 

Lille bossed the ball against a Troyes side wary of pushing forward following a 6-2 thrashing by Strasbourg. They had the ball in the net inside two minutes as Bakwa struck the post and Haraldsson finished from close range.

VAR intervened though, disallowing the goal for one of the tightest offsides you’ll see all season.  

Les Dogues kept probing with slick, patient build-up, and the breakthrough finally came through a Tiago Santos stunner.  

Santos collected from Bakwa on the edge of the area and curled a brilliant finish beyond Beach and into the left-hand side-netting.

Lille thought they had a third inside three minutes. Onal’s cutback was bundled home by Diaz, but the flag went up against the Lille forward for offside.

Troyes offered virtually nothing going forward in the first half, managing four shots, all off target.

Ultimately, Stephane Dumont’s side were lucky to trail by just one at half-time. They came out brighter after the break, with Anis Ouzenadji combining well down the left early in the second half, but Lille were content to absorb the pressure.

Ancelotti still wanted more though, and turned to Olivier Giroud, Gaetan Perrin, and Ethan Mbappe shortly after the latter having been sent off for an elbow against Real Betis just four days earlier.

LILLE GO TOP OF THE LEAGUE 🔝⚜️ pic.twitter.com/nZQ8OQvq01

— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) September 13, 2026

Changing all four attackers paid off. Perrin latched onto a Kjaergaard pass almost immediately, only for Troyes goalkeeper Beach to get there first.

In the 93rd minute, Mbappe sealed it with his first goal of the season to make it 2-0.  

Match Statistics

Lille couldn’t keep up their early tempo, but the win was still deserved and ended their home drought for the season. Dumont can also take positives though, with Troyes doing well to frustrate the hosts for long spells.