Lille scrape past toothless Brest

Salomon Kalou's goal was enough for Lille

Salomon Kalou scored the only goal of the game as Lille put their midweek humbling behind them at the expense of visiting Brest.

Rudi Garcia's side were on the wrong end of a 6-1 hammering by Bayern Munich in the Champions League but successfully recorded their third straight league win.

Kalou produced the decisive moment, slotting home on the stroke of half-time.

The hosts started brightly, Marvin Martin drawing an early save from Alexis Thebaux, who then pulled off an even better stop from Kalou after 12 minutes.

Lille had a compelling penalty appeal rejected when Mathieu Debuchy went down under attention from Eden Ben Basat and looked like they would go in level when Kalou produced an air shot from Florent Balmont's fine cross.

But with less than a minute left before half-time, the Ivorian added the finishing touch to Dimitri Payet's cross.

Brest were a non-entity going forward in the opening 45 minutes but substitute Mario Licka added some impetus when his half-volley was well saved by Mickael Landreau.

Lille, on the other hand, slowed down and needed Landreau to be alert again in the 68th minute when Larsen Toure hit a powerful shot.

Brest came again moments later, Landreau punching clear under pressure and then producing another save to deny Toure.

Payet, who had spurned Lille's only decent second-half chance, had a penalty appeal with 18 minutes remaining but the referee felt the challenge was fair.

The closing stages were not as nervy as they might have been for the home team as Brest's earlier conviction evaporated and they struggled to fashion another worthwhile chance before the close.

Click here for completely free £10 bet with Sky Bet & £5 free every week

• French Ligue 1. Click here to bet.