Lille OSC 4 - 1 Monaco: Lille win boosts European hopes

In-form Lille boosted their chances of claiming a European spot with an impressive 4-1 win against Monaco in a game that saw both sides finish with 10 men.

Morgan Amalfitano's first-half strike set Les Gones on their way to a fifth successive Ligue 1 victory before Eder made sure of the three points with his fifth goal since joining from Swansea in January.

The hosts could easily have been one up inside 15 minutes but Amalfitano's deflected strike found the post before being gathered by a thankful Danijel Subasic.

Then, with 37 minutes played, Lille made a deserved breakthrough when Eder headed down for Amalfitano who beat Ricardo Carvalho before hammering beyond Subasic.

Monaco were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty before the break when Bernardo Silva was brought down by Renato Civelli before Civelli was given his marching orders 10 minutes after the restart for clashing with Carvalho.

Monaco's Elderson Echiejile was sent off for a foul on Sebastien Corchia before Lille doubled their lead on the counter, Eder finishing off a move involving Sofiane Boufal and Mounir Obbadi.

A successful afternoon for Frederic Antonetti's side was rounded off with little over 10 minutes left to play when Obbadi got his name on the score sheet, converting from close range after some good work in the area from Boufal.

There was still time left for Djibril Sidibe to rub salt in Monaco's wounds when he latched on to Tallo's clever through ball before placing the ball beyond Subasic.

Fares Bahlouli grabbed a consolation for Monaco in added time but defeat dents their hopes of automatic Champions League qualification, leaving them level on points with the league's in-form team, second-placed Lyon.