Garcia sees bright side

Lille coach Rudi Garcia has taken positives from his side’s 1-1 draw with Rennes on Sunday despite giving up a last-gasp equaliser.

Cameroon striker Aurelien Chedjou gave Lille the lead but a last-minute strike from Mevlut Erdinc grabbed a draw for the home side.

“If before playing against Lorient we would have been told that we would get seven points from a possible nine in a week, I think we would have been happy with how it ended considering that they were away matches,” Garcia said.

Garcia’s side are third in Ligue 1, six points behind second-placed Paris Saint Germain and the draw meant the reigning champions missed the chance to make up ground on league-leaders Montpellier.

“We missed our chances to get a second goal and keep us safe while we had the opportunity,” Garcia said.

“We didn’t play aggressively enough in their half.”

“We made their goalkeeper look good but we were not able to score the second goal as we wanted to do in the second half.”

The result was Lille’s 10th draw of the season, which could be crucial in the race for the title, but Garcia refused to be negative about his side’s inability to ensure victory.

“At least when you cannot win a game, the important thing is to not lose it and we come back with one point from Rennes,” Garcia said.

“Because they’re a very good team offensively, we have seen that today, probably the best in Ligue 1.”