Lille's Haraldsson scores twice to deepen Monaco woes

Hakon Haraldsson's first-half double earned Lille the points that lifted them above Monaco and Nice and into provisional third place and automatic qualification to next season's Champions League. Adi Hutter's Monaco, who had started the season in such encouraging style, slipped to fifth days after being knocked out of the Champions League by Benfica.

Nice have the chance to overtake Lille when they host Montpellier on Sunday. At Lille, Haraldsson opened the scoring on 22 minutes with a left-footed angled shot, the Icelandic winger adding a second three minutes from the break, with Takumi Minamino reducing the deficit in first-half stoppage time.

Lille held on to put a spring in their step ahead of next week's trip to the Parc des Princes to face PSG, and then their Champions League last 16 clash with Borussia Dortmund. At the start of the season, Monaco were unbeaten and level with PSG after the first eight games.

Inconsistency then struck the Principality side with Saturday's loss their seventh from their last 15 league outings. Later Saturday, Saint-Etienne host Angers and second-placed Marseille, 10 points behind runaway leaders Paris Saint-Germain, are at Auxerre.

 

February 22, 2025