Ajaccio started energetically as they searched for their first win of the season, but the game was soon turned on its head when the visitors took the lead in the 16th minute.
A high cross from the left wing was poorly cleared by the Ajaccio defence, and the ball bounced to the edge of the box, where Yusuf Yazici took the ball on the turn and half-volleyed just past the outstretched hand of Benjamin Leroy to make it 1-0.
This did not discourage the hosts with half time lurking, but the goal had caused a massive shift in momentum, and Lille relaxed into a steady tempo for the rest of the half, before extending their lead just prior to the interval.
Ismaily managed to grab a loose ball just outside the box, and after a small run, he played a square pass to Jonathan Bamba, who turned and fired the ball into the net to surely put the game out of sight for Ajaccio.
Both teams came out in high spirits in the second half, and Ajaccio came close to halving the deficit from a corner, as Fernand Mayembo got above everyone at the front post, but his header bounced off the crossbar.
Straight down at the other end, Lille made it 3-0 as Yazici’s free-kick was cleared by the hosts defence, but only as far as the penalty spot, where Tiago Djalo was waiting to smash the ball past everyone and into the net.
The hosts did pull one back as Cyrille Bayala headed home a loose ball in the Lille box, but Ajaccio will look back at this game with frustration, but now they’ll look to Montpellier to try and get their first top-flight win in eight years at the fifth time of asking.
As for the visitors, this was a needed win to get over the horrors of the previous week, and Lille will now look to build on what was a strong performance overall.
Check out all the stats from the game with Flashscore.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jonathan Bamba (Lille)