It was the long-awaited shock of the weekend. For the 12th day of Ligue 1, Racing Club de Lens hosted Olympique de Marseille at the Stade Bollaert. Despite an average performance, the Lensois won in the final minutes of the game thanks to a header from Jonathan Gradit (1-0).
🏁 A short ̂ 😏
At the end of a match that they dominated, the Lensois won at Bollaert thanks to a goal from a corner at the end of added time! They sign their 3rd success at home in Ligue 1. Well done gentlemen! 👏@RCLens 1⃣-0⃣ @OM_Officiel#RCLOM pic.twitter.com/J6vDz1SNoV
— Racing Club de Lens (@RCLens) November 12, 2023
A painful victory which is good for Franck Haise’s men. With this success, the Lensois take 6th place in the ranking with a total of 16 points.
The Sang et Or return to victory after the draw conceded on the Lorient pitch during the previous day (0-0).
On the other side, OM (10th), continues with a third match without a win and a second defeat in the last three outings. Gennaro Gattuso’s men have taken 1 point from the last three matches.
The Lensois will travel to the Clermont pitch after the break while the Phocéens will go to Meinau to challenge the Racing Club de Strasbourg and to try to get back on the path to victory.
A closed match, with few chances
The whole country had its eyes on the Stade Bollaert and this clash between RC Lens and Olympique de Marseille. However, this poster did not really live up to its promises.
Lensois and Marseillais failed to raise their level of play and worry their opponent throughout the game. Lack of juice on a physical level? Or difficulty creating the game?
The question needs to be asked. Throughout the game, both teams struggled to get past the second. The players of Franck Haise and Gennaro Gattuso often lacked efficiency, realism and technical accuracy when they had the opportunities to make the difference.
Gradit delivers the people of Lens
At the end of the match, the Lensois pushed to score this saving goal. In the 88th minute of play, Wesley Said, who came on in place of a once again disappointing Elye Wahi, thought he would open the scoring but saw his right-footed attempt stopped by Jordan Veretout on his line.
Persevering in the final minutes of the game, Jonathan Gradit delivers a bit of an angry header following a corner from D’Angelo Fulgini from right to left (1-0, 90th).
A victory which will do good for the Lensois just before the break and before tackling a series of decisive matches in the month of November.
