Marseille vs Lille; French Ligue 1
Marseille vs Lille. French Ligue 1.
Stade VelodromeAttendance43,845.
Ligue 1 round-up: Lille stay second but win at Marseille marred by firecracker delay
Friday 25 January 2019 23:23, UK
Lille cemented second in Ligue 1 with a 2-1 win at Marseille on Friday night, but a firecracker thrown on to the pitch led to a 40-minute delay.
Lille were leading 1-0 through Nicolas Pepe's penalty in first-half injury time when the object landed on the playing area in the 56th minute.
It exploded just in front of Marseille players Kevin Strootman and Jordan Amavi, who both seemed visibly shaken by the incident. Referee Amaury Delerue took the players back to the dressing room and they did not emerge again for around 40 minutes.
When the match resumed, a red card for home forward Florian Thauvin did little to improve the atmosphere inside the Stade Velodrome. Thauvin was sent off after 67 minutes for a foul on Youssouf Kone.
Pepe scored his second goal of the game in injury time to seal the win for Lille but there was still time for new signing Mario Balotelli, on as a second-half substitute, to mark his Marseille debut with a goal by heading in a Strootman cross.
