Football
2014/2015 French Ligue 1
LILL 
3
FT
 REIM
1
PA Sport 9y

Lille 3-1 Stade de Reims

Lille got back to winning ways in emphatic fashion to keep their faint hopes of Europe alive with a 3-1 triumph over strugglers Reims.
Sebastien Corchia and Divock Origi put the hosts 2-0 up before Nicolas de Preville pulled one back for Reims but Nolan Roux added gloss to the scoreline at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy.
The triumph consolidates Lille's position in eighth in Ligue 1 and sees them get back on track immediately after St Etienne ended their three-match winning streak with a 2-0 win over them last week.
Les Dogues are currently 10 points behind Monaco in fourth and are likely to be relying on results in the Coupe de France and Coupe de la Ligue going in their favour to make Europa League qualification a more realistic target.
Reims, meanwhile, remain firmly entrenched in the battle for survival just three points above the drop zone.
Rene Girard's side flew out of the blocks with Jonathan Delaplace and Origi both going close early on.
Corchia made their early dominance count by curling home a free-kick from 30 yards in the 17th minute, although Reims goalkeeper Kossi Agassa was wrong-footed by a deflection off Prince Oniangue in the wall.
Agassa was alert to stop Lille going two up when Sofiane Boufal tried an ambitious lob on the half-hour mark and then pulled off further heroics by denying Origi from the penalty spot.
The Liverpool loanee shot low to the left but Agassa guessed right after the penalty was awarded for a foul by Gregory Bourillon on Boufal.
Origi, no doubt still smarting from the earlier penalty miss, made it 2-0 three minutes into the second half with his sixth league goal of the season.
Boufal crossed a free kick into the box and Oniangue was again unfortunate as he deflected the ball into Origi's path.
The 19-year-old Belgian made no mistake at the far post and graciously tapped the ball in.
Three minutes later Preville gave Reims a lifeline with a spectacular free kick goal of his own from 30 yards that was even better than Corchia's.
It was one of few bright moments for the visitors and Roux headed Origi's cross in with 20 minutes remaining to restore Lille's two-goal advantage.
ends

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