the Bakayoko festival, the Lens nervousness… The tops and flops

Bakayoko at the top, the Lensois frustrated and annoyed. AFP / JOHN THYS / AFP / JOHN THYS

The Sang et Or were beaten by PSV Eindhoven this Wednesday evening (1-0) on the pitch at the Philips Stadion. Find the Tops and Flops of this C1 meeting.

TOPS

Bakayoko at the top of his game

He is clearly the man behind PSV’s victory against Lens (1-0). He showed great offensive production, minimizing waste. Johan Bakayoko completely dominated the right side, putting Deiver Machado and Facundo Medina in great difficulty. Aggressive, fast and regular, he was the best offensive element with more than 50 balls touched during the match. Author of a formidable cross placed on the head of Luuk de Jong to open the scoring (12th), he even had several opportunities to score his team’s second goal with beautiful off-center strikes. Special mention for his offensive sidekicks Luuk de Jong and Hirving Lozano who were also solid. But Bakayoko is definitely the essential leader of PSV this evening. Without forgetting his aggressiveness, his energy and his intensity which really frustrated the Lensois.

The aggressiveness of Eindhoven

Peter Bosz’s recipe was perfectly respected by his players. They pushed RC Lens to make mistakes and lose the ball on several occasions, by installing high pressure which was intense, controlled and aggressive. In the second act, the Sang et Or returned to the same bases with a lot of hesitation, like this very slow clearance from Brice Samba, these slips from Machado or this loss of the ball from Nampalys Mendy who offered a corner at PSV. The Lensois were asphyxiated by the pressing and aggressiveness of Eindhoven. Without forgetting the game of provocation: several Lens executives fell into the trap set by certain players like Luuk de Jong, themselves initiating scuffles and other small altercations. Lens lacked calm, experience but above all response to the intense play of Eindhoven.

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FLOPS

Lensoises mood swings

Eight. This is very probably the key figure of this meeting. The Sang et Or received eight yellow cards and one red card. RC Lens got stuck in a negative spiral, struggling to establish accuracy and offensive fluidity to create real chances. Frustration was also invited to the party with no less than four yellow cards received in the last four minutes before the break for Sotoca, Machado, Wahi and Danso. Again in the second half. The excesses of temper took several executives out of the squad from their match, particularly in defense with a warning for Gradit. Machado and Medina were almost sent to the locker room more than once. But ultimately it was Morgan Guilavogui, who had just hit the post, who ended up being sent off by Mr. Daniel Siebert. Every Lens error was exploited by the Dutch. Guilavogui’s post (87th) in the final moments also reinforced all the Lensois regrets and this ambient frustration which accompanied them throughout the meeting.

Frankowski and Machado on the verge of drowning

Accustomed to being very good pistons, even essential parts of Franck Haise’s system, the two men had a lot of difficulties. The Pole, who had a fantastic performance against Sevilla FC, failed to showcase his natural qualities in the center. He missed numerous passes and failed to impact his attempted crosses, which were often blocked or poorly timed. The Argentinian was, in addition to his mood swings and his numerous mistakes, completely dominated by Johan Bakayoko and experienced numerous offensive failures. Twice he was served on a plate at the far post but slipped on the wet pitch, completely missing the ball. The copies of Machado and Frankowski are the opposite of those of their direct opponents Lozano and Bakayoko – even Schouten and Veerman who have dezoned.