Solid Villa let down by last-minute lapse

Lille 1 Aston Villa 1

A last-gasp goal denied Aston Villa victory in their Intertoto Cup semi-final round first leg in France last night. Having gone ahead through Ian Taylor seven minutes from full-time, Villa appeared well set, only to concede a last-minute goal to Lille's Fernando D'Amico.

Graham Taylor's side nearly had to a dream start after just four minutes when Peter Crouch found the back of the net only for the assistant referee to call the ball out of play before Thomas Hitzlsperger's cross.

Lille, who lost Bruno Cheyrou and Pascal Cygan to Liverpool and Arsenal respectively during the close season, looked a pale imitation of last term's Champions' League side, rarely testing Villa's debutant keeper Stefan Postma in the first half.

In contrast, Marcus Allback looked dangerous in tandem with Crouch for Villa, but the Swede missed a great chance 10 minutes before the break from Jlloyd Samuel's cross.

Both sides traded chances in the second half, before Taylor pounced after Gregory Wimbée had parried Olof Mellberg's header from Hitzlsperger's corner in the 83rd minute.

But, after Lille forced two good saves from Postma in the dying moments, D'Amico slotted home Hector Tapia's free-kick to leave the tie well poised.

Lille: Wimbée; Pichot, Campi, Delpierre, Tafforeau, Chalmé, D'Amico, N'Diaye, Brunel, Moussilous, Sterjovski. Substitutes: Malicki (gk), Landrin, Schmitz, Boutoille, Fortune, Fahmi, Bonnal.

Aston Villa: Postma; Delaney, Mellberg, Staunton, Taylor, Crouch, Allback, Barry, Hitzlsperger, Hadji, Samuel. Substitutes: Myhill (gk), Ridgewell, Moore, Boulding, Wright, Stone, Vassell.