Four days after its humiliating French Cup exit, Lille completed a week to forget on Saturday with a 2-1 loss at home to last-placed Le Havre in the French league.
Goals in each half from Egypt forward Kouka and Senegalese striker Issa Soumare – his first for the club – helped Le Havre end its nine-game winless run across all competitions and climb off the bottom of the table until Sunday at least, when fellow struggler Montpellier visits Strasbourg.
Lille substitute Chuba Akpom scored on his league debut in the seventh minute of stoppage time but it was too little, too late for the home team.
Lille has exceeded expectations in the Champions League, where it last week thrashed Feyenoord 6-1 to qualify directly for the knockout phase. It followed that by rallying from a goal down to beat St. Etienne 4-1 in the French league’s 20th round last weekend.
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On Tuesday, the team squandered a 2-0 lead against second-tier Dunkerque in the French Cup, before losing the penalty shootout.
Lille dropped to fifth in the French league on Saturday after its fourth defeat of the season.
Earlier Saturday, Nice capitalized on Monaco’s defeat the night before to move third with a 2-0 win over 10-man Lens.
Ill-discipline cost the visitor dearly as Adrien Thomasson conceded an early penalty for a foul on Hicham Boudaoui. Gaetan Laborde duly scored from the spot.
Lens defender Fucundo Medina was sent off with his second yellow card in the 57th and Jonathan Clauss sealed the win against his ex-club seven minutes later.
Monaco lost 4-1 at league leader Paris Saint-Germain on Friday while St. Etienne lost 0-2 to visitor Rennes on Saturday.