They are determined to fight and complicate Paris Saint-Germain’s task for as long as possible. Even jostled, even uninspired, the Lensois once again won this Saturday on their lawn against Auxerre, their 8th victory in a row in Ligue 1, by the smallest of margins (1-0).
A victory which allows the Sang & Or to regain first place in the standings from PSG, temporarily lost on Friday evening with the Parisian victory against Lille (3-0).
A first borrowed period
But it will have been laborious to find. Muzzled in the first period, the Lensois did not manage to find the fault against Auxerrois who were diligent defensively, but not really dangerous offensively, with the exception of an off-target strike from Ahamada at the end of the first period (45th).
Returning from the locker room, in a Bollaert stadium that was initially silent – a singing strike was observed by some of the Lens ultras for the first 15 minutes due to sanctions against the Marek stand for using smoke bombs – it was another Lens team that we saw. More resourceful, more dynamic, more determined, she quickly put pressure on Donovan Léon’s cage.
Saïd, a nice goal before leaving
And ended up finding the flaw. Just before giving way to Morgan Guilavogui, Wesley Saïd scored his 8th league goal of the season with a superb sequence, chest-volley control from the left, on a good cross from Malang Sarr (1-0, 65th). Despite the debut of rookie Romain Faivre, a familiar face in Ligue 1, Auxerre never managed to worry Lens, who could have made the break if Florian Thauvin (73rd) or Mamadou Sangaré (89th) had not been clumsy in front of goal.
It’s the prerogative of teams that succeed in everything: even in pain, even on the edge, even on the smallest of margins, Lens continues to pile up victories and points. That makes 43 this Saturday evening for the fall champion, still one ahead of PSG, to whom they still have not planned to return the leadership chair, and eleven over Marseille (which faces Angers at 9:05 p.m.) and Lille.
