The poster had some allure, with its indecision and its little stories. After a great start, Stade de Reims and Racing Club de Lens slipped slowly towards the soft underbelly of the ranking. These two potential championship outsiders had conceded three losses in their last five matches in Ligue 1.
There was therefore no clear favorite at the start of this meeting, where only one point separated the two teams. Ninth, Lens had the opportunity to overtake its host of the day in the event of a victory. But the Rémois had every intention of maintaining their advantage in the standings. And in this balance of power, all eyes were obviously focused on Will Still, revealed in Reims and propelled onto the Lens bench last summer to succeed Franck Haise.
Lens added realism
The young Anglo-Belgian technician succeeded in his bet. Consistent in the game, the Lensois added that realism which had so often been lacking since the start of the season. The Sang et Or found the opening through Thomasson, author of a superb mid-distance strike in the heart of the first period (0-1, 23rd).
An advantage intelligently managed by Will Still’s men. Despite a hotly contested second act, Lens avoided the trap set by their opponent to maintain this precious success. Better still, the Sang et Or were able to seal their success thanks to their center forward Nzola, author of the break goal on the hour mark (0-2, 61st). The Artesian club, provisionally sixth, made the first good operation of this 13th day of Ligue 1.
