The home side got off to the fast start the fans were looking for, netting the opener after just three minutes.
A dangerous cross from Adrien Thomasson wasn’t dealt with, and the loose ball fell perfectly for Odsonne Édouard to whistle a clearly struck volley into the net from 12 yards out.
If anything, Lens may have suffered from the old cliché of scoring too early as they struggled to turn their early lead into sustained pressure, instead allowing the visitors to grow back into the game.
The best chance for an equaliser fell to Folarin Balogun midway through the half, but his fiercely struck finish was straight at Robin Risser, who was able to push the ball to safety.
As the game descended into a midfield battle, the home side began to sit back and were perhaps lucky to see Simon Adingra fizz a shot just wide of the target just before the interval.
Nevertheless, Lens upped the tempo after the restart and were duly rewarded with their second goal shortly before the hour mark.
A long-range shot from Malang Sarr had plenty of power, but Philipp Köhn should’ve done better as he parried the ball straight to Florian Thauvin for an easy tap-in from close range.
Having posed limited attacking threat in the second period, the visitors quickly struck back to turn the game on its head during a dramatic 10 minutes.
Balogun ignited the comeback just after the hour mark with a powerful shot that somehow squeezed past Risser at the near post and, midway through the half, Denis Zakaria crashed a header in off the bar from Caio Henrique’s pinpoint cross.
With the home side reeling, the comeback was complete less than 120 seconds later when Risser was beaten again, this time by Ansu Fati.
Despite their best efforts, Lens could not find an equaliser and were ultimately edged out. This result could prove crucial in the title race, as Lens handed the initiative back to PSG by failing to extend their one-point lead, having played a game more.
As for Monaco, they’ve now won three of their last four games in Ligue 1 to move level on points with LOSC Lille in fifth place.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jordan Teze (AS Monaco)
