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Slimani on target as Lyon give up two-goal lead in defeat to Lille
The Algeria star got the hosts off to a flying start at the Groupama Stadium but his effort was not enough to secure all three points
Islam Slimani scored his second Ligue 1 goal of the season as Lyon gave up their two-goal lead and suffered a 3-2 loss against Lille.
The former Leicester City striker who opened his league goal account against Paris Saint-Germain a month ago, led the Kids' attack alongside Cameroon's Karl Toko Ekambi and Memphis Depay on Sunday.
It did not take long for the hosts to break the deadlock at the Groupama Stadium as Slimani fired home the opening goal in the 20th minute after linking up with Maxence Caqueret.
A few minutes later, Lyon doubled their lead courtesy of Jose Fonte's own goal but Lille reduced the deficit just before the break with Burak Yilmaz's goal in the added time which inspired a comeback.
Lille continued their push for an equaliser after the restart and it came just on the hour-mark, thanks to Jonathan David’s effort.
With five minutes left on the clock, Yilmaz scored his second goal of the night which turned the game around and sealed maximum points for the visitors.
The late winner broke Lyon fans' hearts as they remain fourth in the Ligue 1 table with 67 points after 34 matches while Lille displaced PSG to return to the summit of the table with 73 points after the same number of games.
Slimani and Toko Ekambi were on parade for 73 minutes before they were replaced by Ivory Coast's Maxwel Cornet and Zimbabwe's Tino Kadewere respectively.
The result was Lyon's second consecutive defeat in all competitions after they were booted out of the French Cup by Monaco on Wednesday, but they will be focused on boosting their Uefa Champions League qualification chances and return to winning ways when they travel to Monaco for their next Ligue 1 fixture on May 2.
