Ligue 1 – 26th day – Nice moves forward by dominating Lens at Bollaert (1-3)

Lens got tripped up. Manhandled by a Nice team found and finally victorious after a series of six unsuccessful matches, the Northerners lost 3 goals to 1 this Saturday evening as part of the 26th day of Ligue 1. Terem Moffi (10th and 66th) scored a double for the Gym while Khephren Thuram (52nd) also scored a goal for the Aiglons. Elye Wahi (75th) reduced the score for the Sang et Or without however managing to stem the Lensoise defeat. With this brilliant success in the North, Nice (43 points) steals fourth place in the ranking from Lens (42 points) and comes back two lengths from the podium.

Boosted by its short but precious success against Brest (1-0), Lens quite logically presented itself as favorite against a Nice team in the midst of a crisis of results and confidence. Almost complete (only Jimmy Cabot and Deiver Machado were missing from the Lensois ranks) for this clash against a direct competitor for the European places, the Northerners nevertheless quickly became disillusioned in this meeting. Trapped by Mohamed-Ali Cho on a seemingly harmless ball in front of his defense, Facundo Medina thus opened a royal path to the Gym and to a Terem Moffi (10th, 0-1) who was quick to take advantage of this generous gift from the Argentinian defender.

Picked from the start by the Niçois who were determined to raise their heads at the dawn of the final sprint, Franck Haise’s players then tried in vain to react during a first period that was generally Lensoise (52.1% possession and 8 shots for the RCL), Florian Sotoca (14th), David Pereira da Costa (18th, 44th) and even Elye Wahi (40th) however lacking precision in the last gesture against masked goalkeeper Marcin Bulka. Defeated by a Riviera defense once again in top form, RC Lens paid for its lack of realism upon returning from the locker room with a new defensive blunder, this time signed by Nampalys Mendy. Just two minutes after believing they had equalized through Elye Wahi (the Lensois striker was flagged in an offside position following an intervention by the VAR), the Sang et Or conceded a second Nice goal, Khéphren Thuram (52nd, 0-2) taking advantage of a good ball from Mohamed-Ali Cho to crucify Brice Samba up close.

However, the Lensois ordeal was not yet over. Coming into play at the break in place of an injured Jonathan Gradit, the young Uzbek defender Abdukodir Khusanov (64th) also made his guilty mistake by surrounding Rosario in the middle of the penalty area on a Nice corner, thus causing a penalty in favor of the Gym which Terem Moffi (66th, 0-3) was responsible for converting into a knockout goal. S

ed but not yet resigned, Franck Haise’s players managed to save their honor at the dawn of the last quarter of an hour through their flagship striker Elye Wahi (75th, 1-3). The Espoirs’ scorer’s fifth league goal, however, was only a decoy in an evening where nothing worked in the Lensois ranks. By conceding an eighth defeat this season in Ligue 1, RC Lens fell to sixth place in the standings and at the same time revived a Nice team which had not won in the championship since the 19th day.

More information to follow…