Lens, thanks to its small victory Tuesday during the 33rd day of Ligue 1 at the Toulouse winners of the Coupe de France (1-0) boosted, returns on the heels of Marseille before their decisive clash for second place this weekend -end. Only one point will separate the Lensois, third, from the Marseille dolphin when the two teams meet on Saturday in the fury of Bollaert with the Champions League in sight.
Under pressure after OM’s victory on Sunday against Auxerre (2-1), the Sang et Or have fulfilled their contract and have almost secured the podium, now eight points ahead of Monaco with five matches remaining.
Despite a very good first half hour, on the heels of its victorious Cup final against Nantes (5-1), the TFC concedes a fifth consecutive defeat at home, without too many consequences since its maintenance is almost assured ( 13th with 41 points).
Openda in success
Toulouse coach Philippe Montanier, who spent on the Lensois bench from 2018 to 2020, had questioned the programming of the match the day before as to the “sporting fairness” of the race for the C1.
72 hours after the Stade de France, 48 hours after the celebrations in the Place du Capitole, the hangover inevitably awaited its players against one of the most intense teams in the championship.
With nine changes in the starting lineup compared to Saturday, the Violets, still on their cloud in a sold-out Stadium to celebrate their heroes, ignored fatigue.
Heckled as rarely in recent weeks, the Northerners bent on a curling strike from Vincent Sierro just next door (5th) and two hot chances from Fares Chaïbi (25th and 27th), but they did not break.
On receiving a cross from Massadio Haïdara, Belgian striker Loïs Openda, already the author of an express hat-trick in the first leg (3-0), even scored his 18th goal of the season on his first real opportunity.
First trophy since 1957
This opener had the merit of bringing down the Toulouse euphoria a little and the RCL almost took the opportunity to double the bet, but Openda found the small net (41st) and Seko Fofana the gloves of Maxime Dupé (45th) .
The confrontation between these two future Europeans fell into a false rhythm in the second half, even if Toulouse, carried by their public, pushed to the end to deceive the vigilance of a reassuring Brice Samba at the end of the match.
Much less convincing than ten days ago against Monaco (3-0), Franck Haise’s players missed the break on a too uncrossed header from Florian Sotoca (72nd) and another unsuccessful raid from Openda (82nd), but they will be satisfied with it.
This new defeat against a “big” did not prevent the Toulouse supporters from celebrating once again their first trophy since 1957, officially presented after the meeting. The Lensois “final” will take place on Saturday in Bollaert.