Lille have put AS Monaco at risk of losing for the third time in four Ligue 1 games thanks to Nolan Roux's strike in the first half at the Stade Louis II.

The story was off the pitch prior to the first whistle as Falcao, who has been linked with a move to Real Madrid in recent days, was taken out of the Monaco squad at short notice.

A bright start to the match from Monaco was ruined by the visitors in the 18th minute when Roux collected an inch-perfect pass from Ryan Mendes before calmly firing the ball past a helpless Vincent Enyeama.

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Monaco were agonisingly close to levelling the scores just eight minutes later, but Dimitar Berbatov's effort drifted past the post following excellent work from Joao Moutinho.

Lille were happy to sit back after taking an early lead, and they continued to live dangerously as Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco fired wide inside a congested penalty area.

Moutinho continued to create most of the opportunities for the hosts, and he was involved once again in the move to find Berbatov, who saw a looping header clear the crossbar moments before the break.