Shels two down at the break

Lille 2 Shelbourne 0 - Agg 4-2

Two first-half goals from Milenko Acimovic and Matt Moussilou shattered Shelbourne’s hopes of booking their place in the UEFA Cup group stages at Lille’s Metropole Arena tonight.

Lille started strongly and it needed strong Irish defending to repel attempts from Matt Moussilou and Christophe Landrin.

Dave Rogers fouled Moussilou in the eighth minute and the hosts were awarded a free-kick which Milenko Acimovic fired past the top left of Steve Williams’ nets.

Shels avoided another setback seven minutes later when former Tottenham midfielder Acimovic paired well again with Moussilou – but the striker missed his shot and the ball rolled over the bar.

Lille found the back of the net after 17 minutes thanks to Acimovic, following a cross from Mathieu Bodmer on the right.

Lille doubled their lead when Moussilou completed a fantastic run from midfield before shooting past Williams in the 27th minute.

Acimovic, who went close with a free-kick in the 31st minute, almost got another goal for the hosts but saw his clinical strike go just the wrong side of the woodwork.

Four minutes later Moussilou received a cross from the right from Landrin but the French striker, who was ideally posted in front of the visitors’ goal, missed the ball.

Shelbourne tried to fight back but were unable to produce a worthwhile effort on goal before the break.