By Sébastien Vau
Published 8 minutes ago, Updated now
Elye Wahi scored his first goal since signing for Lens. AFP / FREDERICK FLORIN / AFP / FREDERICK FLORIN
Scorer of Strasbourg at Meinau (0-1), Lens signed its second victory in a row this Friday evening, at the opening of the 7th day of Ligue 1.
TOPS
Elye Wahi, the deliverance
That’s it, finally. Elye Wahi scored with Lens. Arriving this summer in the North from Montpellier, the 20-year-old striker had still not found the net with his new club. It is now done, and in a very good way. The young striker opened the scoring in the 16th minute of play with a magnificent right-left foot sequence. The winning goal in Strasbourg for the Sang et Or (0-1). This goal resonates as a deliverance for Wahi and for Lens, who have regained color for three matches.
Florian Sotoca was in all the good moves
Very good match from the Lensois striker, who hurt the Strasbourg defense. The 32-year-old constantly brought danger against the Alsatian goal. Almost all the interesting northern offensives came from his side. The Lensois tried to make the most of all the ball losses of the Strasbourg midfielder. His connection with Elye Wahi is also very interesting. Sotoca was the decisive passer on the young French striker’s goal and could even have found the net in his turn at the half-hour mark, but Strasbourg goalkeeper Matz Sels came out well. The Narbonne native also spent a lot of time haranguing his teammates. A boss match.
Read alsoLigue 1: Lens continues and reassures itself in Strasbourg, Wahi unlocks his counter
Angelo Gabriel, the Brazilian wisp
The only positive point of the Strasbourg attack this Friday evening, Angelo Gabriel. The Brazilian on loan from Chelsea stunned the Lens defense time and again during the match. Extremely lively and comfortable with the ball, the young 18-year-old hit, dribbled and attempted on goal, while remaining technically very precise. Often heckled by Facundo Medina, he remained unmoved and did not enter into the Argentine defender’s game. Great strength of character despite his young age. A real talent.
FLOPS
The Alsatian attack was powerless
Apart from Angelo Gabriel, the other Strasbourg attackers did not weigh heavily on the northern defense. Neither Emanuel Emegha, Dilane Bakwa or Habib Diarra were able to put Lens goalkeeper Brice Samba in difficulty. The latter attempted several breakthroughs, without success in the face of the robustness of the Lens defense. As soon as they were able to approach the northern nets, their last gesture was always imprecise and messy. The Alsatian attackers are also often (too) quickly out of their match, and for little reason.
The lack of Strasbourg character
Despite Elye Wahi’s opening score after a quarter of an hour of play, no Alsatian revolt was felt. The Racing midfielder remained completely listless and continued to lose far too many balls. The Strasbourg team was far too low on the pitch and was never really able to dominate this meeting.
Adrien Thomasson, two failures which could have been costly
The former Strasbourger didn’t want to score against his former club. His return to play in the 75th minute in place of Angelo Fulgini was catastrophic. The Lensois misses two huge unmissable chances at the end of the match (82nd and 94th), which could have put the Sang et Or definitively safe in this match. His misses against Brice Samba are so amazing, it makes you wonder if Thomasson really wanted to win with Lens at Meinau.
