Greg . 2 days ago

Giroud makes aspiration Ligue 1 return as Lille begin season with thrilling draw against Brest

Kamory Doumbia’s first Ligue 1 double since December 2023 helped Brest come from two goals down in a stunning 3-3 thriller with Lille, who saw new signing Olivier Giroud score on his debut.

Following a busy summer Lille, two new signings combined to give Bruno Gennsio’s new-look side an 11th-minute lead.

Returning to his native France after spells all across the world, Giroud secured a hero’s welcome when he instinctively fired fellow new recruit Felix Correia’s defence-splitting delivery past Brest’s only starting newcomer, Radoslaw Majecki.

Brest tried to regain a foothold, but after narrowly putting an effort over the crossbar, Hugo Magnetti had a moment to forget, when an attempted backpass to Majecki fell short, allowing an alert Hakon Arnar Haraldsson to steal possession and place his strike confidently beyond the statuesque Majecki.

However, Doumbia gave the visitors a wake-up call just after the half-hour mark, when he smartly fired home from within the area to halve the deficit.

With the tide now turning in the Pirates’ favour, Doumbia needed less than six second-half minutes to get the hosts back on level terms.

Brimming with confidence after opening his account for the new season, the Malian scoring machine needed only a deft touch just inside the area before he curled an exquisite effort straight past Berke Ozer into the corner of the net.

After a brief period of calm following Brest’s leveller, the second-half storm began in earnest.

First, Romain Perraud forced a fine fingertip save from Majecki, before controversy surrounded referee Clement Turpin.

Despite continued protests from Brestois that Ngal'ayel Mukau had handled the ball before slotting home, the man in the middle – with the assistance of VAR in his ear – was having none of it, and he awarded the goal that restored Lille’s advantage.

Lille’s lead didn’t last very long – just nine minutes to be precise, as Julien Le Cardinal smashed a stunning half-volley past Ozer to set up a mouthwatering closure.

Despite a whirlwind 75 minutes though, the contest fizzled out to a stalemate.

Despite their disappointing second-half showing, Lille are now undefeated in their last nine opening-day fixtures (W5, D4).

Meanwhile, Brestois have improved on a record of their own, extending their unbeaten H2H home account to six matches (W3, D3).

Betopick Man of the Match: Kamory Doumbia (Brest)Click here for more about the matchThe key statsOpta by StatsPerform