Lille held to goalless draw

Lille fell further adrift of the Ligue 1's top two after they were held to a goalless draw by Lyon at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy.

Lille fell further adrift of the Ligue 1's top two after they were held to a goalless draw by Lyon at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy. It proved to be a feisty affair as both sides battled to get an early foothold and the vociferous crowd had to wait 25 minutes before either goalkeeper was tested as the hosts made the first move. Firstly, Anthony Lopes had to be on his toes when Florent Balmont fired in an awkward shot from distance before Nolan Roux beat the Lyon keeper with a dipping drive which flirted dangerously with the right post. The home crowd was incensed on the half-hour mark when Samuel Umtiti appeared to handle inside the area but Benoit Millot waved away before he denied Lille once again just a few minutes later when Divock Origi went down under a Miguel Lopes challenge. Salomon Kalou headed straight at the impeccable Anthony Lopes in the Lyon goal and Balmont fired wide from the edge of the area but the scores remained level at the break despite Lille showing more intent in front of goal. Rene Girard's men picked up after where they left off after the restart and only a well-placed Jordan Ferri prevented the opener when the defender hacked David Rozenhal's header off the line from Djibril Sidibe's corner. Anthony Lopes was called upon twice in succession on the hour mark as Lille continued to look for the elusive opener. Firstly, the Portuguese keeper got down well to keep out a fierce Origi shot before he did well to snuff out the danger when Sidibe's delivery looked destined to tee up Roux. Despite dominating for an hour, the hosts almost suffered a cruel blow when Clement Grenier got into the area before lobbing Vincent Enyeama but Pape Souare got back to clear off the line and prevent Lyon taking an undeserved lead. As the latter stages approached Enyeama was called into action twice, firstly saving low down at Bakary Kone's feet before the Nigerian tipped a stinging effort from Alexandre Lacazette over the bar before Lille went close at the other end. Kalou found Origi about 25 yards out and the young Belgian unleashed a dipping shot which almost caught Anthony Lopes out, but he tipped the ball onto the crossbar. Lyon came again though and Enyeama came off his line as Lacazette got clean through on goal and produced a superb stop as the goalless draw seemed more and more likely. Lille thought they had stolen all three points in stoppage time when Ronny Rodelin poked the ball past Anthony Lopes, but the linesman's flag went up to save Lyon.