Lille OSC – RC Lens: Giroud Intervention Delivers Lille Derby du Nord Delight (1-0)

The 125th Derby du Nord would be settled by a late intervention from Olivier Giroud as Lille OSC narrowly defeated rivals RC Lens. Victory would be enough to send Lille provisionally into second in the table ahead of AS Monaco’s visit to Paris FC, while defeat for Lens would end a run of three wins in a row in Ligue 1 for head coach Yannick Cahuzac. 

Tactical analysis and match report by Nick Hartland.

A lot has changed since Lille OSC last hosted local rivals RC Lens at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy. Not least in the dugout, where Davide Ancelotti replaced Bruno Génésio at Lille, while Dino Toppmöller took over Pierre Sage’s Coupe de France-winning Les Lensois, and has since been replaced by his assistant Yannick Cahuzac. If something were to unite Ancelotti and Cahuzac across the Derby du Nord divide, it’s the shared sense that they’re trying to make a name for themselves as head coaches. 

For Ancelotti, it would be hard to find a more formidable surname in coaching than the one he shares with his Champions League-winning father. Whereas Cahuzac, a former Lens player, has yet to earn his coaching badges. He was thrust into his current role in part because of his close friendship with sporting director Jean-Louis Leca, and also because he was a unifying candidate in a coaching set-up that was felt to be divided under Toppmöller. 

Ancelotti . . .