Easily above his opponent in the first period, RC Lens relied on its individualities to mask its shortcomings in offensive efficiency against Nice (0-0), this Saturday. From 4 to 7, discover our notes after this meeting for the 6th day of Ligue 1.
The tops:
If RC Lens kept its fourth clean sheet of the season, it owes a lot to Brice Samba (7). First decisive in pushing back the post on Nice’s only chance of the first act (27′), he then flew like a cat to capture Nice’s beautiful header (66′). Always reassuring, especially in the air, the Lensois captain also distinguished himself by his quality of long play which many times brought danger to the other side of the field (13′, 45+1, 54′, 83′) . In other words, it is difficult to provide a more complete service.
The limits of the dimension taken by Abdukodir Khusanov (7) continue to be pushed back every weekend, to the point that the young 20-year-old defender is establishing himself against all odds as the boss of the Lens rearguard at the start of the season. He simply extinguished Evann Guessand by making him bite the dust in the duel, despite the Nice striker being 88 meters tall. The Uzbek won four of six duels by being ever more solid and authoritarian as the match went on, like this monstrous intervention in his own area which made Bollaert stand up (77′). Also a model in covering and defending his own area – which can sometimes prove more difficult in his case – he could have topped it all off with a victorious header at the very end of the match if it had not been pushed back to the line (90+1′). In short, boss.
For his first tenure, M’Bala Love (6) scored points. If he symbolized the lack of offensive efficiency of RC Lens through missed sequences and apparent technical limits (13′, 23′, 32′), the Angolan striker made his incredible power and speed speak to be a danger both in wide open spaces and in the surface, like this shot deflected onto the post by Marcin Bulka also on a big day (10′). Impressive in the duel, it offers the Sang et Or the possibility of abusing the long game by retaining the ball almost every time in these sequences of play. And if RC Lens can regret having lacked realism, they can thank M ‘Bala Nzola for offering him so many solutions to create some.
The flops:
Preferred over Ruben Aguilar on the right side, Przemyslaw Frankowski (4) was a step below his teammates. Without leaking, the piston was affected by some technical waste, particularly on its centers (none successful on two attempts). He was also occasionally jostled by Jérémie Boga capable of putting him to death, like this festival where the Pole was forced to concede a well-placed free kick (53′).
Unlike the restless M’Bala Nzola, Wesley Said (4) was much more discreet and confirms its slight setback after a very flamboyant start to the season. With only 30 balls touched (lowest total on the Lens side) before his exit (59′) for a rather prominent Rémy Labeau-Lascary, the Franco-Comorian striker cruelly lacked influence on the RC Lens game and often procrastinated when he found himself in interesting situations (2′, 50′). He also came up against Marcin Bulka (12′) before making an excellent defensive intervention in his area in front of Jérémie Boga (37′).
RC Lens notes:
Samba (7) – Gradit (6), Khusanov (6), Medina (6) – Frankowski (4), Thomasson (6), Diouf (5), Machado (5) – Fulgini (5) – Nzola (6), Said (4)
Enzo PAILOT, in Lens
Photo credits: Baptiste Fernandez/Icon Sport
