Lille catch AEK cold

By Vassiliki Papantonopoulou at Spyros Louis Stadium

Goals in each half from Milivoje Vitakic and Matthieu Debuchy on a freezing night in Athens earned LOSC Lille Métropole their second straight victory in UEFA Cup Group H and left AEK Athens FC still without a point.   

Lille top
Vitakic opened the scoring before Debuchy put the UEFA Intertoto Cup winners on course for victory with the second 18 minutes after the restart. Kofi Amponsah pulled one back, but a series of missed opportunities cost AEK as Lille moved clear at the top.

Vitakic opener
After an even opening period, Lille took the lead on 26 minutes with their first real opportunity. Sotirios Konstantinidis failed to clear, gifting Stéphane Dumont a chance, and though Chrisostomos Mihailidis saved his shot, he could not prevent Vitakic knocking in the rebound.

Sylva saves
AEK charged forward after the goal. On 35 minutes, Nikos Lyberopoulos and Konstantinidis linked up to provide Asimakis Krassas with a chance, but he headed over. Konstantinos Katsouranis then showed too much of the ball to Tony Sylva and the goalkeeper saved, before Lyberopoulos went close with a free-kick in stoppage time.

Debuchy drive
The second half began in the same vein. AEK enjoyed plenty of possession but could not make the most of it, coming closest on 59 minutes when a Katsouranis header struck the left post. AEK's frustrations grew when Lille scored their second moments later, Debuchy beating Mihailidis with a fierce right-footed drive from distance.

AEK reply
AEK rallied and Amponsah converted a simple chance after 72 minutes to give them fresh hope. A sweeping move nearly produced an equaliser with a minute left, but Alessandro Soares' header hit the crossbar. AEK face a difficult trip to Sevilla FC on Matchday 4 while Lille complete their campaign against the Spanish side on 15 December.