Victor Osimhen scored a second half penalty to help Lille come from behind to defeat Strasbourg 2-1 as the Great Danes claimed a first win in five in three games across all competitions.
Christophe Galtier’s men were forced to dig deep when Adrien Thomasson profited from a shambolic defending to hand the hosts a 12th minute lead.
Thomasson fired past goalkeeper Mike Maignan after the ball slipped off Renato Sanches’ legs near Lille’s goal area.
Defender Gabriel Magalhaes restored parity five minutes after the hour mark after heading home Jonathan Ikone’s cross off Sanches’ corner-kick.
With just ten minutes to full time, Osimhen punished wasteful Strasbourg from the penalty mark after defender Lionel Carole handled the ball.
The goal was the ex-Wolfsburg’s 10th of the season – four goals behind top scorer Wissam Ben Yedder of AS Monaco
Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen has been voted the 17th best player in French football in only is first half season by influential website, Get French Football News.
The French publication published its ranking of the 100 best players of the championship of France with 2018 best player, PSG forward Kylian Mbappe, retaining his position.
Second place went to his teammate angel Di Maria while Monaco’s Wissam Ben Yedder came in third.
Players that are eligible are judged on all their professional appearances in 2019, regardless of whether or not they were playing abroad for a part of the calendar year. This also applies to the international appearances they might have accumulated.
Osimhen only joined Lille in the summer from Belgian outfit Charleroi and has scored 14 goals in his first season in France including a brace in his debut.
His 20 goals in 36 games last season earned him Charleroi’s Player of the Season award and made them activate the €3.5m buy clause in their loan agreement with Bundesliga club Wolfsburg.
Exactly a month later, he was holding up a Lille shirt as their new €12m signing. Lille lost a lot of goals in the summer when Nicolas Pépé and Rafael Leão were sold to Arsenal and AC Milan respectively.
Neymar scored twice as Ligue 1 leaders Paris St-Germain were made to settle for a point in a six-goal thriller against Monaco at the Parc des Princes.
The Brazilian struck a third-minute opener before goals from Gelson Martins and Wissam Ben Yedder completed a quick six-minute turnaround for the visitors.
Fode Ballo-Toure’s own-goal and Neymar’s second from the penalty spot then handed PSG a half-time lead.
But Islam Slimani made it 3-3 after 70 minutes to deny the champions victory.
Slimani’s goal was eventually awarded after a lengthy video assistant referee review overruled an initial offside verdict.
Kylian Mbappe, who won his side’s penalty following a foul by Martins, and Edinson Cavani both squandered injury-time opportunities as PSG chased a winner.
A point leaves Thomas Tuchel’s side five points clear of closest challengers Marseille with one game in hand.
Olympique Marseille broke into the Ligue 1 top four after goals from Boubacar Kamara and Kevin Strootman gave them a 2-0 home win over struggling Strasbourg on Sunday.
In the day’s early fixtures, Monaco eased their relegation woes with a last-gasp 3-2 defeat of Rennes while Girondins Bordeaux suffered a 1-0 setback against visiting St Etienne.
Kamara netted a third minute opener for 1993 European Cup champions Marseille, blasting a deflected shot past goalkeeper Matz Sels.
This came after Strasbourg failed to clear a low free-kick driven into the area from the left.
The home side then missed several chances as Croatian defender Duje Caleta-Car and Serbia winger Nemanja Radonjic hit the woodwork while Argentine Dario Benedetto scuffed a close-range shot wide.
Dutch midfielder Strootman sealed the win with a stoppage-time penalty kick after Benedetto was brought down by a visiting defender.
The result left Marseille fourth on 16 points from 10 games while Strasbourg stayed bottom on nine points.
Wissam Ben Yedder scored a 90th minute winner for Monaco to cap a memorable evening.
That was after he had given his side an early lead in a rollercoaster, as the visitors hit back through Faitout Maouassa and Adrien Hunou.
Algeria striker Islam Slimani, on loan at Monaco from Leicester City, levelled in the 56th minute.
Ben Yedder then delighted the home fans as the principality side moved up to 14th place, two points clear of the bottom three.
A 90th minute penalty kick from Denis Bouanga gave St Etienne a surprise win at sixth-placed Bordeaux and allowed the visitors to move up to 10th place.
Angel Di Maria once again proved his worth with a double that earned Paris St Germain a 4-1 win at Nice and a five-point lead in the Ligue 1 standings on Friday.
The result put PSG on 24 points from 10 games as Nice finished with nine men after Wylan Cyprien and Christophe Herelle were sent off during the last 20 minutes.
They however reduced the arrears in the second half through Ignatius Ganago.
Nice are ninth on 13 points.
Nantes, who are second on 19 points, will play Metz on Saturday.
Olympique Lyonnais’ new coach Rudi Garcia will make his debut at home against Dijon in the day’s opening match.
Former Olympique de Marseille and AS Roma coach Rudi Garcia will take charge of Olympique Lyonnais, the Ligue 1 club said on Monday.
“Olympique Lyonnais confirms the appointment of Rudi Garcia as coach starting today,” OL said in a statement, adding that he had signed a contract until 2021.
Garcia, 55, replaces Brazilian Sylvinho who was sacked last week after Lyon failed to win in Ligue 1 since their two opening victories this season.
In 2011, Garcia was voted the best coach in the league after he guided Lille to the title and French Cup double.
He then took Roma to a second-place finish in the Serie A in 2014.
Garcia moved on to Marseille in 2016, leaving the club at the end of last season after leading them to the Europa League final in 2018.
He will sit on the Lyon bench on Saturday when they take on one of his former clubs, Dijon.
OL are 14th in Ligue 1 with nine points from nine games but have four points after two rounds of matches in the UEFA Champions League.
Lyon have failed with a bid to appoint Jose Mourinho as their new manager, RMC reports.
Mourinho remains desperate to secure an imminent return to the Premier League.
The former Manchester United and Chelsea boss is waiting for the right opportunity to return to club management, after being sacked at Old Trafford last December.
Lyon president, Jean-Michel Aulas, contacted Mourinho about the vacant managerial role following the sacking of Sylvinho.
However the Portuguese made it clear that his focus is on returning to management in England, where his family currently live.
It is understood that Mourinho is reportedly eyeing the Tottenham manager’s job as speculation continues over the future of Mauricio Pochettino.
French Ligue 1 club Nice have sacked Lamine Diaby-Fadiga after he admitted stealing a watch worth a reported £62,000 from team-mate Kasper Dolberg.
Denmark forward Dolberg, 21, had his watch stolen from the dressing room on 16 September and reported the theft to police.
Striker Diaby-Fadiga, 18, has represented France at Under-18 level.
“Nice and Lamine Diaby-Fadiga parted ways on Tuesday,” said a club statement.
“Following the theft of Kasper Dolberg’s watch from the changing room, and the subsequent admission of the player, the club decided to cancel its contract with the forward with immediate effect.
“Above and beyond all sporting and financial consideration, Nice cannot and will not accept such behaviour that betrays the confidence that unites all the club’s employees and all the members of the Rouge et Noir [Red and Black] family.”
Dolberg moved to Nice from Ajax in the summer, while Diaby-Fadiga had been with the club for three years.
Nice, sixth in Ligue 1, play away at third-placed Nantes on Saturday.