The opening chance of the match fell to the visitors inside just five minutes, as Jay Enem fired inches wide from inside the box.
Nevertheless, Lille grew into the first half, as Romain Perraud’s acrobatic attempt from a tight angle was saved by Matheus, before Hakon Haraldsson’s shot from distance flew over.
The visitors, though, always looked threatening down the other end, and after Vladimir Lucic’s ambitious effort was stopped by Berke Ozer, the Red-Whites took the lead with only their third first-half UEL goal this season. Tomas Handel’s corner found its way through to Franklin Tebo Uchenna, who bundled the ball over the line in added time at the end of the half.
Lille struggled to respond in the second period and had Ozer to thank for keeping the deficit at just one goal. Red Star substitute Marko Arnautovic found himself in space just a few yards out, but Ozer stuck out a leg to deny the Austrian from scoring just four minutes after coming on.
From there, the visitors were happy to preserve their lead, and it was one-way traffic in Les Dogues’ favour during the latter stages. However, Lille simply did not have their shooting boots on, with Matheus waiting until the 80th minute to make a meaningful save when Perraud tested him from distance.
As a result, the French side’s run of scoring in 19 successive European matches came to an end, and their toothlessness in front of goal may cost them once again at this stage of European competition - they have now failed to win any of their last six UEL knockout games (D1, L5).
Meanwhile, returning to home soil in the second leg, their opponents have given themselves a great chance of advancing to the next round, winning their first European match in France at the 10th attempt (D2, L7).
Flashscore Man of the Match: Franklin Tebo Uchenna (Crvena Zvezda)