Lille OSC has had a special practice match. The reigning national champion of France drew 1-1 against KV Kortrijk on Saturday and did so with nine men. Jocelyn Gourvennec’s team played the entire second half with two men less because Tiago Djaló and Xeka got into a fight.
After the whistle for halftime, with a score of 1-0, Djaló ran towards Xeka and gave his teammate a push. After pushing and pulling back and forth, teammate Reinildo intervened. It all happened under the watchful eye of the referee, who sent the two off the field with a red card.
Djalo il est venu en trotinant pour en decoudre avce Xeka came me smoke ???? pic.twitter.com/dm57qjKB3c
— Ronaldoux ???????? (@ronaldouxxx) July 17, 2021
Lille asked the referee on duty at halftime to withdraw the red cards, but he refused. KV Kortrijk therefore proposed to play the second half with ten against nine and the gesture of the Belgian club was appreciated. The game on Belgian soil eventually ended in 1-1, thanks to a penalty by Yusuf Yazici six minutes before the end. Sven Botman was in the starting line-up and completed the ninety minutes.
Remarkably, Lille did not mention the incident in the live report on Twitter. At the start of the second half, it was only reported that the second half had resumed ‘by nine’ dogues (nickname of Lille, ed.) against ten Belgians’. KV Kortrijk opted for an identical announcement on social media.
A big fight on a football field is not exactly a rarity, but it is a lot less common for two teammates to get into a fight with each other. Last year things went wrong between Hugo Lloris and Heung-min Son, but the fights between Pablo Osvaldo and Mauro Icardi, David Batty and Graeme Le Saux, Kieron Dyer and Lee Bowyer are also known.