English midfield man Joe Cole had a goal chalked off as French champions Lille saw their hopes of a successful title defence this season take a knock Saturday as they were held to a 1-1 draw by modest Evian.
Sabeur Khlifa stunned the hosts with a fourth-minute opener for the visitors, who were promoted for the second straight year last season and who only three years ago were a fourth tier outfit.
This term, they have established themselves in midtable and gave as good as they got against a Lille side who struggled to find any cohesion early on as they tried to shrug off a midweek loss at Inter Milan which has all but put paid to any hopes of advancing past the group phase of the Champions League.
Winless in Europe, Rudi Garcia's men have also developed a habit of drawing must-win games in the league and he gave vent to his frustration afterwards at his team's lack of a ruthless streak.
"We should have seen it coming - but it's complicated when you have a valid goal ruled out.
"At least we didn't lose - that would have been unfair, wouldn't it? We have dropped two points tonight and we will have to get them back elsewhere" at Toulouse in a fortnight's time.
"But the players gave it their all," Garcia conceded.
Lille were not helped by Cole having a goal ruled off on 13 minutes for a dubious offside decision.
The northerners finally rescued a point thanks to substitute Benoit Pedretti's fortuitous freekick just after the hour mark.
But Saturday's stalemate was the side's sixth draw in 13 league games and it left them five points behind leaders Paris Saint Germain, who visit off-colour Bordeaux on Sunday.
Lille are also two points adrift of Montpellier, who can extend that advantage with a win Sunday at Saint Etienne.
If Champions League fellow travellers Lyon defeat Sochaux away and Toulouse get three points at Auxerre then Lille will be struggling to hold onto fifth place.
Cole hit an effort fizzing wide as the first period drew to a close while a freekick from young starlet Eden Hazard, like his teammate struggling to find his game on the night, was unable to conjure any magic from a freekick routine as the half drew to a close.
Khlifa had stunned the home fans by latching onto a long punt from Olivier Sorlin which dissected the home defence and he promptly dispatched the ball with the outside of his right foot past Mickael Landreau in the Lille goal.
Moussa Sow, last season's league top scorer, missed a pair of good chances before making way for Brazilian Tulio De Melo on 58 minutes and he too proved profligate when Hazard served him up a chance on a plate.
Pedretti finally prevented an enbarrassing home loss when his freekick looped in but the performance was not of the stuff of potential repeat champions as Lille failed to make their possession count, Cole cutting a forlorn figure after seeing his final contribution of the evening, an 87th-minute header, sail wide.
Source: AFP
