Lille stunned by late PSV fightback
Thursday, February 17, 2011
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LOSC Lille Métropole 2-2 PSV Eindhoven
Ola Toivonen inspired a late comeback for PSV, who scored twice in the last ten minutes to wipe out what promised to be a decent first-leg lead for Lille.
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Two goals in the last ten minutes earned PSV Eindhoven a 2-2 draw at LOSC Lille Métropole after the hosts looked to be cruising to a healthy first-leg lead.
Ola Toivonen inspired the late fightback, making the key contribution to Wilfred Bouma's 83rd-minute goal before scoring the equaliser himself 60 seconds later. French league leaders Lille had taken a 2-0 lead into the break after strikes from Idrissa Gueye (6) and Túlio De Melo (31), but PSV's late rally means they have the edge ahead of next week's decider.
Lille came into the game in good form having gone unbeaten in their last 12 games in all competitions, winning nine of them; they certainly started like a team on the up. Ludovic Obraniak's corner was only half-cleared to where Gueye was lurking on the edge of the area. The 21-year-old struck his effort low and hard to score his first professional goal, giving Andreas Isaksson no chance in the process.
Just past the half-hour it was two. Home captain Mathieu Debuchy found space down the right and clipped in a ball that De Melo attacked beautifully to head in under Isaksson. PSV worked their way back into the game, though, and the threat of an away goal grew ever more as the contest progressed.
However, it looked as though Lille would hold out and take a decent lead to the Netherlands, until a magical minute for the visitors late on. First, Toivonen picked up Balázs Dzsudzsák's over-hit corner and lifted a delightful lob that came back off the bar and landed at Bouma's feet five metres out. The defender finished easily before the Swedish international completed the comeback with a shot from the edge of the area.