VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France (Reuters) – Lille secured a 3-2 victory over visitors Sturm Graz in a Champions League thriller on Wednesday, with substitute Hakon Arnar Haraldsson scoring a late winner.
The Icelandic midfielder had been on the pitch for a minute when he found himself unmarked in the box, calmly curling the ball into the top corner with nine minutes remaining.
Lille are sixth in the Champions League table ahead of Wednesday’s remaining matches with 13 points, while Sturm Graz are 29th with three points.
After a largely uneventful opening, the match came to life in the final minutes of the first half, with Osame Sahraoui breaking the deadlock for Lille in the 37th minute, before Mitchel Bakker doubled their lead 10 minutes later.
Sturm launched an immediate fightback, with Otar Kiteishvili sending a bouncing ball into the roof of the net with the last kick of the first half.
Mika Biereth levelled for the visitors two minutes after the restart, tapping in a low cross from close range. However, Sturm could not stop Haraldsson from securing all three points for Lille with his late strike.
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk; Editing by Toby Davis)
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