Europa League Half time report: Lille versus Sporting Lisbon
Lille were looking forward to their biggest test in Group C; against Sporting Lisbon as they travelled to France to take on the team, in their Europa League group stage match.
Both the teams were the firm favourites to progress from the group with the other two teams being, Levski Sofia and Gent.
According to Lille midfielder Ludovic Obraniak, "It's going to be a tough group to qualify from because there's one of the top-seeded teams in Sporting Lisbon. We know that we're a good team too so that should be a good challenge.''
Lille already have plenty of experience in the tournament having gone on to the last sixteen in the tournaments debut season. The team were however looking to better their record this time around.
The match was expected to be a highly contested one, with both the teams being almost as good as each other. However the experts were tipping Sporting to take all three points from the game.
The match kicked off with both the teams, attacking each other from the very first minute of the match.
Both the teams were looking sharp and were going on the offensive, while displaying some beautiful football. However it was Sporting who took the lead early on.
Simon Vukcevic hit a brilliant left footed drive which buried itself in the lower left corner of the goal, giving the away team the lead and silencing the home fans.
This intensified the whole situation and a somewhat rough game play was witnessed. The referee warned the players a couple times hoping that they would heed.
Nonetheless Lille didn't let the early goal get to their heads, the French team went back to its game plan and started attacking Sporting every opportunity that they got.
The game was neck to neck again, however Vukcevic managed to find some space on the right along the line near the half hour mark and curled in a cross that was met by the rising head of Helder Postiga. The ball ended up in the back of the net once again.
Lille were now finally starting to crack, having performed brilliantly they just didn't know what to do, since they conceded two goals despite looking fantastic during the half.
The half time whistle was soon blown, giving the home team plenty of time to regroup and think about their possible options for the second half.
Now both manager will huddle up their team as when will form a more offensive approach and the other a defensive one.
Tags: