Lens have the league’s best home record but made an uncharacteristically nervous start against a Reims side that were happy to soak up pressure and hit their hosts on the counter-attack.
That approach reaped dividends when Alexis Flips played a perfectly-weighted pass to Folarin Balogun and the Arsenal loanee was pushed down by Kevin Danso in the box.
Referee Jeremie Pignard pointed to the spot and showed a straight red card to Danso before the England U21 international coolly stepped up to score from the spot. It was Balogun’s 20th goal of the season in all competitions, quelling the previously fervent atmosphere inside the Stade Bollaert-Delelis.
Will Still’s side were playing with confidence and should have doubled their lead when Junya Ito headed wide from Flips' cross.
They would come to rue that missed opportunity when Emmanuel Agbadou was penalised for a challenge on Adrien Thomasson and Przemyslaw Frankowski smashed home the subsequent penalty to bring the hosts level going into half-time.
It was a case of cometh the hour cometh the man when Lens skipper Seko Fofana showed a brilliant mixture of strength and skill to weave his way through the Reims' defence and fire beyond Yehvann Diouf in a stunning individual goal.
It was the Ivorian’s second goal in as many games after his ferocious strike in a 2-1 win over Olympique de Marseille last time out.
There was almost another moment of controversy as Balogun went down inside the box with Brice Samba in close contact, but after viewing the VAR monitor, the Englishman received a yellow card for simulation. Justice prevailed on this occasion and showed how effectively VAR can be used if done so efficiently.
Franck Haise’s side held onto their lead with relative comfort to secure all three points, increasing their grip on a first top-two finish since the 2001/02 season and automatic qualification for next season’s Champions League group stage.
Reims remain 10th, but an eighth-place finish, which would be their highest finish since 2019/20, is still a possibility.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Seko Fofana (Lens)
