The leader in the French championship Lens ended its series of three consecutive victories in a rather shocking and dramatic way, after being defeated by Monaco 3:2 in the 23rd round. The “Yellow-red“ led 2:0 at their “Félix Boléar“ stadium after 56 minutes of play, but lost 2:3 after conceding three goals in 10 minutes, BTA reported.
Lens remains at the top for the moment with 52 points, one more than Paris Saint-Germain, who can climb if they defeat last-place Metz on their home field tonight. Monaco, on the other hand, collected 34 and are tied for 5-7th place with Rennes and Lille.
The hosts started quickly, as the fans expected, scoring the first goal after just three minutes. A dangerous cross from Adrien Thomason was not saved, and the ball fell perfectly for Odsonne Edouard, who volleyed the ball into the net from 12 meters. But the early goal did not help Lens turn this into a lasting advantage and in the 22nd minute Florin Balogun missed an equalizer for the visitors.
The second half started with a shared advantage, but Lens were lucky to double in the 56th minute when Malang Sar shot. The ball was not easy, but goalkeeper Philipp Köhn should have done better than to clear it out of the net.
The visitors quickly fought back to turn the game on its head during a dramatic 10 minutes from the 62nd to the 72nd. Balogun gave the impetus to the turnaround just after the hour mark with a powerful shot that somehow went past Risser at the near post. And midway through the half, Dennis Zakaria headed the ball in to make it 2-2, sending the ball against the post and into the net after a precise cross from Caio Enrique. With the home side in a difficult position, the turnaround was completed less than 120 seconds later when Ansu Fati scored again behind the home side's young goalkeeper Felix Risser.
Despite all their efforts, Lens were unable to equalise and ultimately had to swallow a home defeat.