English midfielder Joe Cole netted his first goal for LOSC Lille Metropole on Saturday, but the reigning French champions were denied a home win after Kevin Monnet-Paquet popped up in injury-time to rescue a 1-1 draw for Lorient.
Cole, who has settled down well in France following his surprise loan move from Liverpool, scored on 34 minutes, bulldozing home a quality strike after receiving the ball about 25m out.
The dropped points left Lille sixth in the table, with 13 points from eight games, four behind pacesetters Olympique Lyonnais, who romped past Girondins de Bordeaux 3-1 to stay joint-top on 17 points with Paris Saint-Germain and Toulouse.
PSG clinched a 3-0 win at Montpellier Herault with Javier Pastore scoring twice, the second of which was a wonder strike, and Kevin Gameiro tucking away his fifth of the season.
Toulouse kept pace at the top with a 1-0 win over struggling AS Nancy-Lorraine.
Lille coach Rudi Garcia saw his decision to rotate his squad backfire to an extent with the draw following hot on the heels of a midweek stalemate with Bordeaux.
He needs as many fresh faces on hand for tomorrow’s Champions League encounter against Turkey’s Trabzonspor.
Lyon thanked two goals from France international striker Bafetimbi Gomis and another from Brazilian favorite Michel Bastos for their win over Bordeaux with an Anthony Modeste penalty for the midtable visitors a mere consolation in the 84th minute.
Olympique de Marseille still cannot find their form after they were held to a 1-1 draw at Valenciennes, which left Didier Deschamps’ side just two points off the drop zone.
In other action, Stade Malherbe Caen won 4-2 at Evian, while OGC Nice and Dijon FCO drew 1-all.
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