The roller coaster continues for Lens

By: Jay | October 6th, 2007

The wild ride continued saturday night as the struggling Lensois marched into the Stade Felix Bollaert with heavy hearts after this week’s disappointing result against Kovenhagen which sealed their fate in this year’s UEFA Cup competition.

Contrary to what many observers have expressed I felt the elimination was a positive for the club. Lens’ domestic form has been dreadful this year and a prolonged stay in UEFA would only exhaust the players further. Indeed, all resources should be geared toward getting good results domestically and avoiding relegation at this point.

It’s no secret that this year’s squad is not at the same talent level as last year and it is imperative that the club’s affairs stabilize ahead of the winter break in order to hopefully lure some much needed human capital.

Nevetheless, saturday’s result was a step in the right direction. Granted, this was a home game against a team which has arguably been depleted in a worse way than Lens, losing the likes of young stalwarts Bakary Sagna and Younes Kaboul to the EPL as well as Kanga Akale to Lens. Yet a 2-0 victory at this point will be gladly taken. Indeed, what wound did ever heal but by degrees?

The Plot

The much needed points came unexpectedly for any Lens fan watching from the start. Auxerre absolutely dominated early wreaking all kinds of havoc on the Lens defense. However, like many clubs in Ligue 1 this season the final touch proved elusive and it cost the Auxerrois dearly.

Luigi Pieroni opened the scoring after 23 minutes from the penalty spot after Gabriel Tamas had fouled Olivier Monterrubio. And unlike the phantom call that went against Lens in Copenhagen this foul was clear.

Auxerre could have equalised five minutes before half-time but Sammy Traore’s effort from Thomas Kahlenberg’s corner was cleared off the line. The former PSG man is developing into Auxerre’s main weapon on set pieces ever since his winning header against St. Etienne in their Coupe de la Ligue victory a few weeks ago.

After the break it was Teofilo Maoulida’s turn to strike fear into the hearts of the Artesian faithful when he smashed the ball against the post having gone round a wandering Vedran Runje.

Just a little later at 64 minutes Kevin Lejeune went on a flashy run down the left, but Maoulida missed his cross and when it fell to Daniel Niculae he missed the target from about six yards out.

The lack of precision and economy was bound to cost the Auxerrois and it was Kader Mangane’s turn to bid Auxerre Adieu, and take thy praise with thee to heaven. The Senegalese sensation dispatched the visitors in front of goal when he applied the finish after good interplay from Eric Carriere and Monterrubio.

So, a solid victory moves Lens up to 15th in the Ligue 1 table, one place ahead of Auxerre who must be wondering what they need to do to win on the road. Coach Jean Fernandez must be at a loss for words having lost every road contest this season save for the Coupe de la Ligue success.

As for Lens, it may come as a surprise for some that they have yet to lose at home this season despite their miserable plight. Among some of the observations I made, Kader Mangane continues to impress and his first Ligue 1 goal should bolster his confidence. Furthermore, it was nice to see Lucien Aubey out on the pitch again as the club will depend on him with Hilton out for an extended period. On the negative side we have yet to see the Akale-Boukari-Dindane combination that many of us have been calling for. Also, coach Papin needs to get Kevin Monnet-Paquet some time in the league and not just in UEFA or Coupe games.

Til’ next time……au revoir and allez Lens!