Seko Fofana got the decisive second goal as Lens won 2-1 at Strasbourg on Sunday to reclaim fifth place and stretch their unbeaten run to nine matches.
THE MATCH
Franck Haise's newly promoted side have been one of the major surprises of the season, but their continued high performance means they must now be taken seriously as potential European qualifiers.
They maintained their run without Florian Sotoca starting up front — the Blood-and-Gold's habitual leading man began on the bench — as Haise sought to beef up his midfield, and was rewarded with a more than solid opening.
One those controlling the centre of the pitch, Yannick Cahuzac, tested Eiji Kawashima in the home goal with a low drive (5') before Massadio Haïdara headed beyond the Japan international from close range when Kawashima failed to connect with Jonathan Clauss' corner (8').
The defender's opening goal of the campaign was nearly added to by Fofana, who sent a shot just wide after connecting sweetly with Clauss' cut-back (16'), but Strasbourg stunned the visitors by pulling level.
Frédéric Guilbert's free-kick stretched Jean-Louis Leca in the Lens goal, and he was unfortunate to see the ball drop to Adrien Thomasson — the midfielder's header fell for former Lens man Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, whose first-ever Ligue 1 Uber Eats goal came against the club where his career started (20').
Bolstered by their equaliser, Strasbourg pushed forward. Anthony Caci fired just wide (25'), but just as they had scored against the run of play, so Lens turned the tables on the hosts. Clauss was involved again, picking out Fofana on the edge of the box, and he sent a rocket of a shot beyond Kawahima (40').
The former Udinese midfielder would have given Lens breathing space but for Kawashima's smart save early in the second half (46'); they would have needed it too had Leca not done the same in a one-on-one against Ludovic Ajorque (51').
Strasbourg's rangy leading scorer should have at least tested Leca again — if not found the back of the net — but headed a Guilbert cross wide (59') before Simon Banza poked wide after Kawashima and Lamine Koné had left the ball to one another (68').
In frantic closing stages, Fofana fired wide (85') before Leca brilliantly secured the points with an excellent stop from Thomasson (86') and saw Stefan Mitrovic send a powerful header over the crossbar (89') as Lens moved three points clear of sixth-placed Marseille.
THE PLAYER: Seko Fofana
The Ivory Coast international had one of his best games since his summer arrival from Udinese, running the show from the centre of the pitch as Lens had hoped he might when they splashed out big on him.
THE STAT: 7
Lens are unbeaten in their last seven top-flight away games, winning four of them. It's their best such streak since going 10 unbeaten 'on the road' between August 2005 and January 2006.
