Nice Climbs to Third in Ligue 1 Following Comfortable Victory Over 10-Man Lens

Nice ascended into the top three of Ligue 1 with a commanding 2-0 victory over a 10-man Lens, extending an impressive run in their head-to-head encounters, losing just once in league meetings since the dawn of the new millennium.

The home side’s manager, Franck Haise, faced off against his former club while Nice were eager to rectify their midweek exit from the Coupe de France against a lower-league rival. Lens had been a formidable away team this season, suffering defeat only to the dominant and reigning champions PSG before this match. However, a fast start from the Eaglets signalled that their solid record could be at risk.

Some careless defending from Lens gifted Evann Guessand a clear chance to score, but what would have been his 10th league goal of the season was disallowed after a VAR review indicated a foul in the build-up.

Undeterred, the hosts continued to press forward and found their breakthrough shortly after. A careless challenge by Adrien Thomasson on Hicham Boudaoui in the box presented Gaetan Laborde with a penalty opportunity, which he successfully converted, sending goalkeeper Hervé Koffi the wrong way.

Inaccurate finishing at both ends meant that this would be the only goal of the first half, with M’Bala Nzola firing a promising chance to equalise over the bar, and Boudaoui also misfiring, sending the ball high above the goal frame, much to the frustration of the home crowd.

Clearly dissatisfied with his team’s first-half display, Will Still opted for a double substitution at the interval. One of his new arrivals, Jeremy Agbonifo, nearly made an immediate impact by skilfully weaving past two defenders and unleashing a shot that was saved by Marcin Bulka.

To the dismay of the travelling supporters, Lens’ promising start to the second half was thwarted by an unnecessary challenge from Facundo Medina on Mohamed-Ali Cho, resulting in a second yellow card and a subsequent red. This dismissal opened the game up further. After a close-range clearance by Lens’ Malang Sarr denied Boudaoui, Andy Diouf nearly brought Lens level with an impressive solo effort, sprinting 80 yards down the pitch before just curling his attempt wide of the target.

As expected, the open nature of the match eventually led to a second goal, coming for Nice as Jonathan Clauss found the net with a superb strike into the roof of the goal from a tight angle against his former side.

From that point, the match was effectively over as a contest, with the scoreline potentially worse for Lens had Koffi not produced another incredible save to deny Guessand in the dying moments.

Nice are now unbeaten in three matches and have surged ahead of Monaco and Lille in the battle for UEFA Champions League qualification, while Lens finds themselves four points behind as their two-match winning streak comes to an end.