PARIS, Feb 20 - Lille failed to recapture second
place in Ligue 1 as they were held to a 1-1 draw at lowly Metz
on Sunday leaving them six points adrift of the leaders.
The Northerners are now third on 46 points, one behind
Olympique Marseille, who won 1-0 at Bastia on Saturday, and a
further five adrift of Olympique Lyon in the standings.
Lille, unbeaten in their last nine away games, had the
better start. Slovenia's Milenko Acimovic opened the scoring
with superb shot just under the bar in the seventh minute.
But Metz fought back bravely in the second half as Lille,
still in contention for the French and UEFA Cups, tired.
Young substitute Ludovic Obraniak equalised with a penalty
in the 52nd minute for his first Ligue 1 after a foul by Lille
goalkeeper Tony Sylva on Nigerian Bartholomew Ogbeche.
"Each team had its half. We were controlling the game well
but we allowed Metz back into the match with a big defensive
blunder," said Lille coach Claude Puel.
Penalties were also decisive in Sunday's other fixtures.
Bottom side Istres grabbed their third win of the season,
beating AJ Auxerre 1-0 with a spot kick scored by Ivory Coast
striker Ibrahima Bakayoko in the 25th minute.
Guinea's Pascal Feindouno also scored from the spot on the
hour mark as St Etienne beat Sochaux 1-0 in a mid-table clash.