Put under pressure by the successes of Nice (3-0 against Lorient) and Rennes (4-0 in Nantes) but especially by its bad series of four matches without success (one point taken), Lens won again to revive itself in the race for Europe.
RCL thought they had saved themselves the headache by opening the score in the first minute of play, the penalty converted by Florian Sotoca having been obtained 29 seconds after the kick-off by El-Aynaoui. Sometimes lacking ideas, Franck Haise’s men also lacked success. Sotoca, again, hit the post twice (37th, 89th). Auvergne goalkeeper Mory Diaw was also very solid, completely disgusting Elye Wahi (46th, 65th, 71st). If he remained in the match, the last of the L1 was not able to snatch a point which would have been valuable for the objective of maintaining. But this new 0 scored risks costing him dearly.
The fact: Samba’s incredible failure
Unable to widen the gap, Lens was very scared in the 76th minute. On an aerial pass, Brice Samba came out of his area to control but he missed and the ball slipped on his stomach. Grejohn Kyei thought he would take advantage but the Clermont striker, surprised, rushed to shoot and missed the target when there was no one in the goal.
5/5
Clermont have lost each of their last five matches against Lens in Ligue 1. Their worst record in the elite, with the duels against OM (also 5 defeats out of 5).
The man: Fulgini didn’t score any points
Preferred over Pereira da Costa or Thomasson, Angelo Fulgini was started for the first time in two months and a trip to Reims (1-1, February 18). The former Angers player was generous in the effort. Winning his duels (7/11) he touched a lot of balls (62), recovered 7 and could have given two assists, but the two goals from Medina and El-Aynaoui were canceled (61st, 66th) .
In the end, he had an average match, alternating between losses in transmissions and clumsiness in front of the opposing goal: his free kick in the 20th minute was off target and he missed a golden opportunity just after (21st minute).
