PARIS, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Substitute Xeka gifted Lille a 2-1 home win over Amiens with a late header in the 21st round match of Ligue 1 on Friday.
Second-placed Lille had to recover from Juan Otero's opener to rally past the league strugglers thanks to goals from Rafael Leao and Xeka.
Otero broke the deadlock as early as five minutes into the match. He latched onto Cheick Timite's pass from the right wing to fire a shot past Mike Maignan.
Lille's top scorer Nicolas Pepe thought that he had the chance of leveling the score in the 37th minute, but he failed to convert the penalty created by Leao, seeing his poor shot wide from the post. Then Leao had his answer by steering Pepe's cross home just before the interval.
Second-half substitute Xeka stepped up to nod home on a fine right-flank delivery from Jeremy Pied with five minutes from time.
Sitting four points ahead of third-ranked Saint-Etienne set to host Lyon in Sunday's Rhone derby, Lille can secure their second position after the whole round action curtains down. Amiens remain 17th at the table, just one point over the playoff spot.
Lille also cut the deficit to 10 points from leaders Paris Saint-Germain, who look for a revenge on bottom side Guingamp at the Parc des Princes on Saturday.
PSG suffered a stunning loss to Guingamp in last week's French League Cup quarterfinals, seeing their 44-match winning streak in domestic cups vanished.
Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas can embrace his home debut since joining Monaco in the winter transfer window as the troubled outfit take on Strasbourg on Saturday.
