Still with an outside shot at the title, Lens didn’t waste any time in stating their intentions, as Seko Fofana came close to scoring following a nice passing sequence, only to see Lucas Chevalier deny him less than two minutes in. As ever, Lens played with intensity and generated the best scoring situations as the game progressed, while Lille were forced to make a defensive substitution after Tiago Djalo departed the contest early in the first half.
The hosts’ looked unable to translate their dominance into a lead, but Lens finally found a break late in the first half when José Fonte nodded a free kick into his own goal to put the hosts in front. Even though the performance wasn’t flashy, Lens were in complete control of the contest and fully deserved their HT lead against a Lille side that barely posed a threat in the opposing final third.
Lille pushed their lines forward in the second half and increased the tempo of their play, but that didn’t translate into too many scoring chances, as Angel Gomes looked creative in midfield, but the end product lacked accuracy. Lens kept exploiting the flanks, and the attacking runs of Loïs Openda kept the opposing defenders on their toes repeatedly, but with little clarity in the final metres.
The match badly needed a spark of magic by this point, but Jonathan David provided it right on cue. The Canada international came out of nowhere to even the scoring midway through the second half following a swift passing sequence, making it 16 league goals for the season as he keeps up his chase on the Ligue 1 golden boot – not won by a Lille player since Moussa Sow in the title-winning 2010/11 campaign.
Both teams had late chances in the closing stages, and Fofana arguably had the clearest opportunity to snatch victory, with a shot that flew only a few inches away from the goal. In the end nobody could have argued against the final result, and Lens can but pray that Monaco lose to Troyes tomorrow – anything else will see them lose the top-three berth they currently occupy by the slimmest of margins.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jonathan David (Lille OSC)
