Lens beats Monaco and regains second place

2023-04-22 23:51:00

For this 32^e day of Ligue 1, Lens comfortably won against Monaco, taking a big step towards the Champions League at the same time.

By IM with AFP

RC Lens won against Monaco in the 32^e Ligue 1 day.
© François Lo Presti/AFP

Published on 04/22/2023 at 11:51 p.m.

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Les Sang et Or received, on Saturday April 22, Monaco, their direct adversary in the standings. But Lens made short work of the Monegasques by winning 3-0 at the end of a match which they largely dominated. The Lensois are thus taking a big step towards the Champions League. With 63% possession and 21 shots, they evacuated with style their frustration born on the lawn of the Parc des Princes last Saturday (3-1 defeat). For its part, Monaco suffered a setback after four games without defeat (3 wins, 1 draw).

Since returning to Ligue 1 in 2020, Lens has been undefeated in the league against the Principality club (4 wins, 2 draws). The Sang et Or had already largely won 4-1 in the first leg, on August 20 at Louis-II. This success allows Lens (2^e66 points) to distance himself from Monaco (4^e61 points) and temporarily overtake Marseille (3^e64 points), which moves to Lyon on Sunday (8:45 p.m.) at the end of this 32^e daytime.

A goal first reported offside

Visibly determined to take the lead from the outset, the Sang et Or printed a very high pressing from the first minutes, pushing the Monegasques to rush certain gestures. A strategy rewarded from the 9^e minute. Loïs Openda put pressure on Monaco goalkeeper Alexander Nübel, forcing the latter into an unsteady pass to Vanderson. Intercepted by Machado, the ball returned to Loïs Openda, who saw her first attempt diverted by Nübel then saved on her line by a defender. But the same Openda found himself on the fallout of the ball, which he pushed into the back of the net.

The Belgian striker was initially flagged offside, but the goal was validated after using video assistance. The Lensoise domination was confirmed in the following minutes, marked by a strike from Florian Sotoca just above the bar (12^e) then a shot from Seko Fofana in the gloves of Nübel (16^e).

Abused, the Monegasque defense folded a second time from the 16th^e minute. After a one-two played with Adrien Thomasson, Deiver Machado sent a millimeter center to 6 meters for Loïs Openda who, with a powerful shot, scored, with the help of the bar, a double.

Firing of fireworks

While Lens continued to dominate the debates, the meeting was marked by smoke bombs and the firing of fireworks from the half hour mark, which prompted the referee to briefly interrupt the match. These overflows come at a bad time, because the Artesian players will need a full stadium for their next home match, May 6, against Marseille.

This interruption cut the rhythm of the match and temporarily rebalanced the debates, allowing Monaco to go more in attack, without really threatening Brice Samba.

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The main opportunity at the end of the first half was again the work of Lens. After going up half the field with the ball at his feet, Seko Fofana saw his shot from the entrance to the surface hit the crossbar (44^e). Lens tripled the bet and definitively killed all suspense a few minutes after returning from the locker room (56^e). Served on the right of the surface, Loïs Openda took the ball to 6 meters before serving back Adrien Thomasson, who scored with a cross shot a few minutes after being denied a goal for a position off-side.

At the end of the match, Brice Samba intervened against Ben Yedder on one of the rare Monegasque occasions (72^e), then Kevin Danso countered a powerful shot from Takumi Minamino (83^e) to complete the Lensois success.

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