RC Lens seizes the throne! Fallers from Rennes this Saturday afternoon, Pierre Sage’s men temporarily regain the lead in the championship at PSG before the clash between the capital club and Olympique de Marseille on Sunday (8:45 p.m.). Stuck in the crisis, the Rennais, who lost their two defenders Jérémie Jacquet (shoulder) and Abdelhamid Aït Boudlal (thigh) to injury, suffered a fourth defeat in a row in the league.
However, everything started well for Habib Beye’s players. Jostled at the start of the match, the Bretons quickly found the fault thanks to their new recruit Arnaud Nordin. With a nice hidden pass, moreover blindly, the attacker on loan from Mainz this winter serves Esteban Lepaul who closes close by tackling with his right foot (8th);
The ghost Allan Saint-Maximin
As is often the case this season, RC Lens owes its victory to one of its defenders. If it is Mathieu Udol who usually shines on his left flank, this time the man of the match trophy goes to Ruben Aguilar. Omnipresent offensively, the Lensois piston first offered a superb assist by launching Odsonne Édouard in depth shortly before the break. The French striker resisted the return of Alidu Seidu well before adjusting the young Mathys Silistrie, beaten between his legs (41st).
Returning from the locker room, the passer turned into a scorer by perfectly taking a nice cross from the right from Florian Thauvin with a smashed header from close range (54th). Surely still under the influence of emotion, the former Monegasque… was excluded less than two minutes later by Jérémie Pignard, who sent him a second yellow card for a sole on the foot of Mousa Al-Tamari (56th). Outnumbered for more than half an hour, the Blood and Gold did not back down.
Just arrived from Club America, Allan Saint-Maximin wanted to recall the full extent of his talent, seven years after leaving Ligue 1. On a Rennes corner, Robin Risser seizes the ball and throws the new northern recruit very far, author of a superb control on the left. Lonely facing four Rennes defenders, the former Nice player delays, provokes then releases with his right foot a powerful strike from more than thirty meters which pushes Silistrie to make a mistake (78th). The highlight of the show is Bollaert, who can celebrate his team’s first place while waiting for Paris.
