🤯 Four red cards & seven goals: utterly mad match in Ligue 1 | OneFootball

If you left for a quick bathroom break, went to get a beer, or opened your Advent calendar during this game, you definitely picked the wrong moment—no matter if it happened after two, 65, or 87 minutes.

The Ligue 1 match between AJ Auxerre and Lille OSC was absolutely wild: one goal was immediately followed by the next thrilling scene—and vice versa.

At first, it seemed like a perfectly normal match was unfolding. The visitors from Lille took the lead after about ten minutes.

Then, around the 38th minute, came the first straight red card—for Lille’s Ngoy after a rather spectacular last-man foul.

Twelve minutes after the break, the team sitting sixteenth in the French top flight equalized. Sinayoko headed in from a corner, and the home fans celebrated the goal as if it were a golden goal in a Champions League final. However, the joy didn’t last long: shortly after, the referee pulled out another red card—this time in combination with a yellow. Akpa was sent off, and suddenly the teams were back to even strength.

📸 ARNAUD FINISTRE - AFP or licensors

Goals, red cards—what else is needed for a true spectacle? Exactly: a beautiful own goal. Lille’s defender Mbemba botched an attempt to clear a cross from the right, and the ball ended up in his own net. The celebrations on Auxerre’s side were just as frenzied as after the previous equalizer.

After 77 minutes, the momentum shifted again: Bentaleb equalized for Ligue 1’s third-placed team, and three minutes later Diakité put the visitors back in front—game turned around. Or so you’d think. Just three minutes later, Auxerre had another answer: 3-3.

The final word on goals came from André, making it 4-3 from Lille’s perspective. But the highlight spectacle was far from over. In the 88th minute, another straight red card followed: after a foul, El Azzouzi and Perraud completely lost their heads in a wild scuffle, going head-to-head. Whatever words were exchanged, or whether the referee saw it as a headbutt—both were sent off.

The last minutes, including stoppage time, were thus played out nine against nine.

Phew. After these 90 minutes, both fans and those directly involved surely needed to catch their breath. One thing’s for sure: there was nothing boring about football in France today.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

📸 ARNAUD FINISTRE - AFP or licensors