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Igamane hits debut double for seven-goal Lille / Photo: © AFP
Igamane hits debut double for seven-goal Lille
Moroccan striker Hamza Igamane scored twice on his debut as Lille shrugged off the absence of the injured Olivier Giroud to humiliate Lorient 7-1 away in Ligue 1 on Saturday.
Igamane, 22, signed for Lille on Friday from Rangers for a reported 10 million euros ($11.7m) and wasted no time making an impact for his new club.
Scorer of 16 goals for Rangers last season, Igamane came off the bench at half-time in Brittany and saw Romain Perraud and Matias Fernandez-Pardo score to put his new side in control at 2-0.
Aiyegun Tosin pulled one back for newly-promoted Lorient just after Sambou Soumano had missed a penalty for the hosts, but Lille ran away with the game in remarkable fashion in the closing stages.
Fernandez-Pardo's second of the day made it 3-1 on 77 minutes, before Igamane got his first and Hakon Haraldsson scored the team's fifth.
Igamane's second of the day came in stoppage time and there was still time for Osame Sahraoui to make it 7-1, completing a stunning victory.
Veteran former France striker Giroud had scored Lille's winner last weekend against Monaco but did not make the trip to Lorient due to a fitness issue.
The result leaves Lille with seven points from a possible nine after three games and top of the fledgling French table, although Toulouse and champions Paris Saint-Germain both have the opportunity to go above them when they meet in Saturday's late game.
Nantes beat Auxerre 1-0 in Saturday's other match thanks to an early goal by Egyptian striker Mostafa Mohamed.
Sunday's action will include Marseille travelling to Lyon, who are set to sell key Georgian striker Georges Mikautadze to Villarreal amid ongoing financial difficulties.
O. Joergensen--BTZ
