Soccer Football - Champions League - Bologna v Lille - Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, Bologna, Italy - November 27, 2024 Lille's Ngalayel Mukau scores their first goal REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane
BOLOGNA, Italy (Reuters) -Jhon Lucumi scored Bologna's first goal of the Champions League but they fell to a 2-1 home defeat by Lille on Wednesday, with Ngal'ayel Mukau netting twice for the visitors.
Lille, who have beaten Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid and drawn with Juventus, are 12th in the standings on 10 points while Bologna are 33rd on one point after slumping to a third successive defeat.
"I think it's beyond all expectations given the first four matches, which were very difficult," Lille manager Bruno Genesio told a press conference.
"After the draw, given our calendar, it was difficult to expect 10 points after these games.
Mukau opened the scoring for Lille a minute before the break before Bologna struck through Lucumi in the 63rd minute.
The home fans were still celebrating when Mukau scored his second three minutes later and Bologna were unable to find another goal.
Bologna came into the game as the only side in the competition yet to score, and in the fifth minute they looked to have found the breakthrough but Thijs Dallinga's effort was disallowed for offside.
Lille thought they had found a way through but Alexsandro's header from a corner came crashing back off the upright.
The visitors had another chance when Matias Fernandez-Pardo skipped through the Bologna defence but keeper Lukasz Skorupski was quick off his line to stop him getting his shot away.
Lille did not have long to wait, however, and the goal came from poor Bologna defending. Stefan Posch's attempted clearance came back off teammate Sam Beukema and Jonathan David was quickest to react and pull the ball back for Mukau.
He had time to settle himself for the strike and when Charalampos Lykogiannis blocked the goalbound effort, Mukau made no mistake at the second attempt.
Fernandez-Pardo had another chance to get the better of Skorupski, but again the Bologna keeper got down to snatch the ball away as the Lille forward attempted to take it past him.
Dallinga had a header saved by Lille keeper Lucas Chevalier but Bologna could finally celebrate when Lykogiannis floated a free kick into the box and Lucumi got ahead of everyone to poke the ball in at the near post.
Elation turned to heartbreak for Bologna when Fernandez-Pardo was allowed make his way into the area yet again and this time he pulled the ball back for the unmarked Mukau who steered his shot in from close range.
"We should have ridden that wave and instead we didn't succeed," Bologna coach Vincenzo Italiano told reporters.
"It's a shame because we can't win."
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes, editing by Ed Osmond)
