Thanks to goals from Frankowski and Labeau-Lascary, the RCL won (0-2) on the Saint-Etienne pitch on Saturday for the 8th day of Ligue 1.
After five consecutive draws, Lens returned to victory by winning on the field of Saint-Etienne (2-0), Saturday at the end of a match on the 8th day of Ligue 1 well controlled by Racing.
The Lensois, who had not won since August 25 against Brest (2-0) and still undefeated this season, are provisionally 5th in the ranking tied with Reims (6th) Lille (4th) and Marseille (3rd) with 14 points while waiting for the other meetings of the weekend while the Stéphanois are 13th.
The Pole Przemyslaw Frankowski opened the scoring with a long shot misjudged by ASSE goalkeeper Gautier Larsonneur (20). The latter, however, saved the Greens several times on attempts by Abdukodir Khusanov (4, 45+3), Andy Diouf (8) while a shot from Adrien Thomasson went close to his post (15).
First goal for Rémy Labeau-Lascary
These actions illustrated the Artésiens’ control of the match with thirteen shots including five on target and 64% ball possession rate (70% in the first period). But as is often the case this season, they sinned in finishing despite individual superiority and well-oiled collective play.
Lens nevertheless added a second goal in the second half by a player coming off the bench, Rémy Labeau-Lascary, who went on the counter for fifty meters before eliminating Larsonneur to score in the empty goal (79th), the only shot attempted by Racing in the second half. Aged 21, it is his first goal in Ligue 1. Overall, the Lensois could have won more comprehensively.
For its part, Saint-Etienne, in front of its new big boss, Canadian businessman Larry Tanenbaum, present for the first time in the stands of the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium, struggled. An action by Ibrahim Sissoko could, however, have resulted in a mix-up by the Lens defense but the Saint-Etienne striker’s shot was blocked (28th). Just before the second Artesian goal, Brice Samba repelled a good shot from Augustine Boakye without Lucas Stassin being able to recover (78th).
