Loïs Openda scored twice as RC Lens eased to a 3-0 win over stranded bottom club Angers SCO on Saturday. The result lifts Les Sang et Or provisionally up to second place in the table.
RC Lens 3-0 Angers SCO
THE MATCH
There was a sell-out crowd as usual at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis and the home fans saw their side seize control of the game by scoring twice in the space of four first-half minutes. Captain Seko Fofana fired in the opener (27’) before Openda made it 2-0 on the half-hour mark. Adrien Thomasson intercepted an Abdoulaye Bamba pass before supplying Openda, who turned inside Ousmane Camara before prodding into the net.
Lens were cruising after that and they scored again within a minute of the second half getting underway. A fine move ended with a long ball forward to Openda, who outsprinted Camara before slotting low past goalkeeper Paul Bernardoni (46’).
Scorer of a five-minute hat-trick against Clermont Foot 63 last weekend, Openda almost got another three-goal haul here, as his first-time effort from a Florian Sotoca centre was tipped over by Bernardoni just after the hour mark.
Lens continue their revival after a sticky patch in the early weeks of the year. They are now unbeaten in five league outings and are guaranteed to end another weekend on the podium as they chase UEFA Champions League qualification.
Angers, meanwhile, slide a little closer to inevitable relegation. Ten points adrift at the bottom of the table, they have now gone 20 top-flight games without a win, suffering 18 defeats in that time.
THE PLAYER: Loïs Openda
The Belgian international is in outstanding form, with his brace here taking him to five goals in the last two games and 14 goals in total since joining Lens last summer.
THE STAT: 22
Angers have now lost 22 of their 28 league games, a record at this stage of a Ligue 1 season.
