Lens remains undefeated in Ligue 1 following a controlled match against the Greens. This Saturday, Will Still’s men took over AS Saint-Étienne during the 8th day of Ligue 1 (0-2). Dominant throughout the match, the Lensois opened the scoring thanks to a vigorous strike from Przemyslaw Frankowski (20th), then validated their success thanks to a rush from Rémy Labeau Lascary (79th).
Saint-Étienne may regret a lack of realism in the second half despite numerous dangerous situations. The RCL, which remained on a series of five draws in the league, thus joins the leading group while their opponent of the day, provisionally thirteenth, remains under pressure from their pursuers.
In Lens, it’s love Diouf
The Lensois, threatening from the first minute, initially came up against a Gautier Larsonneur in great form. The Saint-Etienne goalkeeper frustrated Abdukodir Khusanov (4th) then Andy Diouf (7th). The Lens grip gradually closed on the Saint-Étienne players who only had counterattacks to dream of. Brice Samba first launched his attackers in depth on long restarts, the Lensois pistons chained crosses to look for the convincing M’Bala Nzola in the air, and the midfielders used their technique to hurt in the axis .
In this area, Diouf particularly distinguished himself with several magical gestures allowing his team to progress vertically. The midfielder passed through Basel and Renens then allowed Lens to open the scoring, serving behind Przemyslaw Frankowski who surprised Larsonneur with his powerful strike (20th).
This stifling streak of Artesian superiority continued even with the score advantage. The ASSE defenders had a lot of trouble finding their forwards, in particular Ibrahim Sissoko who touched too few balls throughout this frustrating match. The Georgian revelation Zuriko Davitashvili could have distinguished himself on his three attempts but, like all his teammates, greatly lacked efficiency and bite in the zone of truth. After being controlled throughout the first act, Olivier Dall’Oglio’s players had more space in the second half, which allowed them to try their luck eleven times.
ASSE still not taking off
But realism definitely shifted towards Lens in the 79th minute. ASSE, then on a good dynamic, came very close to equalizing with a Davitashvili strike stopped by Brice Samba. On the following action, the incoming Rémy Labeau Lascary was able to leave alone in the opposing camp on a bad back pass from LoÏc Nadé and conclude this race with a goal on the first Lensois shot since returning from the locker room.
