At the heart of the media storm, the Racing Club de Lens has not lost sight of its objective of European qualification at the end of the season. For the 17th day of Ligue 1 2024-2025, the Sang et Or pocketed three precious points on the Le Havre pitch (2-1) on Sunday. Trailing from the first minutes of the match, the Lensois collective did not waver in the long term. Thanks to a decisive goal from Deiver Machado at the start of the last quarter of an hour of regulation time, Will Still’s men performed well to come within one point of Olympique Lyonnais, sixth in Ligue 1. the HAC, the crisis continues with this sixth consecutive defeat in all competitions and a seventeenth place synonymous with relegation.
The wind is used to blowing in Nord Pas-de-Calais, and RC Lens is no exception to the rule. Following the departure of Brice Samba and undoubtedly the planned departure of Abdukodir Khusanov, Will Still’s mission was to return to success on the pitch for a team at the bottom of the table in this French championship. Coming to the Océane stadium to impose his style of play, the Artesian coach placed his trust in Hervé Koffi in goal while aligning Goduine Koyalipou, recently arrived from the Bulgarian championship, at the forefront of the visiting attack. If Lens quickly grabbed the ball to set the pace of the match, the HAC was more realistic to open the scoring.
Koyalipou, a paid first
Following an overflow from Antoine Joujou, Emmanuel Sabbi forced Koffi into a first save, but André Ayew followed well to catapult the ball with his head into the empty goal (8th, 1-0). Thanks to the rage of its Ghanaian center forward who already scored last week in Marseille, Le Havre put itself in an unprecedented situation with this advantage in the score. With only 48 minutes spent in the lead of a Ligue 1 match since the start of the season, the Ciel et Marine had to improvise their management of the match. Opposite, Lens did not change one iota its strategy to keep the ball, and a precise cross from Florian Sotoca offered Koyalipou his first goal in Ligue 1 for his first appearance under his new colors (29th, 1- 1).
If Angelo Fulgini missed the target just before the break (43rd), the attacking midfielder spared no effort after returning from the locker room. With an almost miraculous save on his line, Gautier Lloris prevented Adrien Thomasson from scoring in front of goal (48th). The more the minutes passed, the more Arthur Desmas became essential to preserve the point of the draw for his team ahead of Florian Sotoca (54th) or Fulgini (69th). But in the end, the Norman defense cracked on a cross from Przemyslaw Frankowski skilfully taken by Machado (78th, 1-2). If Lens is happy to enjoy the exhilaration of victory, Le Havre is sinking into doubt as the first leg of the championship ends.
