Lille beats Marseille in match marked by firecracker incident

Lille rode a brace from Ivorian forward Nicolas Pepe to beat Olympique Marseille 2-1 in a Ligue 1 match that was stopped for over 30 minutes in the second half after a firecracker exploded near the pitch.

It was in the 57th minute of Friday's match that umpire Amaury Delerue decided to stop the match after the firecracker exploded near where Marseille's Jordan Amavi and Kevin Strootman were standing, reports Efe news.

By then, Lille was already in the lead in the Velodrome Stadium, thanks to a penalty scored in the second minute of first half injury time.

Neither the break nor the time the match was stopped, with both teams in their dressing rooms, helped the Marseille players regain their composure.

On the contrary, Marseille, who suffered the expulsion of Florian Thauvin in the 67th minute, fell further behind when Pepe scored his 15th goal of the season.

Only a late goal by Mario Balotelli helped Marseille find something positive in the sixth consecutive game in which it is unable to win.

With 12 points more than Marseille, Lille, on the other hand, are reaffirming their position in second place, albeit a long way off (10 points less with three more games) from Paris Saint Germain.

--IANS

ajb/mr