It was a tough start for coach Jorge Sampaoli, who made his debut on the Stade Rennais bench with a 1-0 loss at Lille. The defeat marked a frustrating return to France for the Argentine, two years after resigning from his position at Olympique Marseille.

The "Sampaoli effect" didn’t bring any points for Stade Rennais, which could find itself in the relegation zone depending on other results. The former Sevilla coach (among many others) set up his team well in the first half with a five-man defense and a plan to slow down the game, hoping for a counterattack. However, things took a turn when Alidu Seidu, one of his best defenders, suffered a potentially serious injury and had to be replaced by Mikayil Faye, a former Barcelona player.

That setback, just 20 minutes in, disrupted Stade Rennais' defense, and Lille made the most of it, scoring a decisive goal just before halftime. Edon Zhegrova found the back of the net in the 45th minute to break Lille’s two-game draw streak. His goal was crucial for the three points that kept Lille in fourth place, still 10 points behind league leaders Paris Saint-Germain.

The Kosovar-German midfielder hit the target from the penalty spot after a backward pass from his teammate Jonathan David. That single goal was enough for Lille to hold onto the win, despite only managing two shots on target throughout the match. With the three points, Lille stayed in the top four of Ligue 1. As for Sampaoli, he’ll have a lot of work ahead to lift his team out of the relegation zone.