Three days after its elimination in the Europa League, RC Lens lost a crazy match against AS Monaco (2-3) this Sunday in Bollaert. It was Takumi Minamino who crucified the Blood and Gold in added time.
It’s a week that will weigh heavily in the RC Lens season. Three days after its elimination in the Europa League, the Artesian club lost against AS Monaco (2-3) this Sunday in Bollaert, in a duel between contenders for the Champions League.
Both teams played big during this meeting. The Sang et Or wanted to be redeemed after their collapse in Friborg (3-2 defeat after leading 2-0), and celebrate as it were the 30th anniversary of the Red Tigers, who created an even warmer atmosphere than ever . The Monegasques, for their part, had to stop a generally negative spiral (only one victory in the championship in 2024).
For this meeting, Adi Hütter abandoned his usual 3-4-2-1 for a very offensive 4-4-2 with the Golovin-Minamino duo behind the Ben Yedder-Balogun pair. The move worked well since Balogun quickly opened the scoring (0-1, 19th), while Ben Yedder was involved in the action where Minamino deceived Samba (0-2, 30th), for what could become a CSC of the French international goalkeeper.
Minamino has the last word
Lens reacted well, equalizing very quickly through Elye Wahi (1-2, 31st), before pushing very hard in the second half. Florian Sotoca demanded a penalty that Mr. Letexier did not want to grant him, despite the VAR’s appeal, and it was ultimately Wesley Saïd who came to reward the efforts of the Sang et Or (2-2, 77th) .
At that moment, one could wonder if Lens was not going to do the opposite to Fribourg, winning after being down 2-0. But Franck Haise’s men were obviously lacking a little gas. Monaco finished better, and after Balogun’s penalty was repelled by Samba (82nd), it was Minamino who sealed the fate of this superb match with a nice individual raid concluded by a left strike into the small filer (2- 3, 90th+2).
Monaco carried out a great operation by temporarily climbing onto the podium, ahead of Lille and Nice (who play this Sunday at 3 p.m.), and above all by relegating Lens (6th) to five points. If they want to return to Europe next season, which is still perfectly within their reach, the Sang et Or will have to move forward and digest this tough week.
