Lille OSC shook off back-to-back defeats to breeze into the UEFA Champions League (UCL) Round of 16 for only the second time since 2007, as, helped by a trio of own goals, they hammered Feyenoord 6-1 in their final league phase fixture.
Lille OSC shook off back-to-back defeats to breeze into the UEFA Champions League (UCL) Round of 16 for only the second time since 2007, as, helped by a trio of own goals, they hammered Feyenoord 6-1 in their final league phase fixture.
The hosts, who had lost to Strasbourg and Liverpool in their last two outings, had a huge chance to open the scoring after less than 60 seconds, when Osame Sahraoui should have done much better with a shot he dragged wide from near the penalty spot.
The Morocco international made no mistake shortly afterwards though, sliding home a low effort from a near impossible angle after making a perfectly timed run to dart onto a defence-splitting pass.
Lucas Chevalier was soon in action at the other end as he denied Igor Paixao, but the goalkeeper was powerless to stop the visitors equalising from the resulting corner as Santiago Giménez poked home from close range after receiving Gernot Trauner’s knock-down.
The bulk of the attacking was done by the Mastiffs though, as Thomas Meunier had a shot saved, while Mitchel Bakker and Remy Cabella fired wide.
Their perseverance was soon rewarded, with Trauner stabbing into his own net from a deflected Sahraoui cross for a 2-1 lead at the break.
Feyenoord were blighted by injury now, having seen Gimenez and goalkeeper Justin Bijlow limp off.
And their night went from bad to worse after half time, as Bruno Genesio’s side doubled their lead through another own goal, as David Hancko inadvertently diverted an Angel Gomes cross past Timon Wellenreuther.
That killed off the Dutch side’s reaction, and there was more to come.
Jonathan David crashed home a fourth, cutting inside in the area and firing into the bottom corner to become Canada’s all-time leading scorer in the UCL.
The floodgates had opened by now. Minutes later, Sahraoui grabbed another assist, as his low cross was scrambled home by Trauner, bagging his second own goal of the night, and then the sixth arrived through Cabella, nodding home another Sahraoui flick.
The result condemns Feyenoord to a play-off place, as they seek to make their maiden appearance in this competition’s last 16 – but they will not be seeded, after finishing outside the top 16, whereas Lille registered their biggest ever win in European football.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Osame Sahraoui (Lille OSC)
