Lens rallies past Paris FC as Thauvin and Hazard combine for both goals

Paris FC jumped ahead right at the start of the second half, and for a good while it looked like the visitors would walk away from Stade Félix Bollaert-Delélis with all three points. But Lens had other plans: the home side flipped the result in the span of 20 minutes and came away with a 2-1 win, with Florian Thauvin and Thorgan Hazard each scoring a goal and setting up the other.

The first half had been an even, goalless back and forth, with Lens holding a bit more of the ball but unable to find a clean finish. Franjo Ivanovic, Michaël Cuisance and Florian Sotoca all tried their luck without success. In the 18th minute, VAR reviewed a possible penalty for the home side and waved it off. The strange twist came right at the restart: moments after the second half kicked off, Luca Koleosho finished with his right foot from the center of the box, low and inside the post, after a quick counterattack set up by Lassine Sinayoko. It was the 46th minute, and Paris FC led 0-1.

The match had another scare in the 50th minute, when VAR reviewed a possible red card for Jean-Clair Todibo and ruled there was no foul worthy of an ejection. With its defender spared, Lens responded. In the 62nd minute, Florian Thauvin fired a left-footed strike from outside the box that found the right side of the net, assisted by Thorgan Hazard, to make it 1-1. Then, in the closing stretch, in the 82nd minute, Hazard returned the favor: he finished with his left foot from the center of the box, also into the right side of the goal, after a cross from Thauvin, to make it a final 2-1.

What the numbers say

Lens had the better of play in nearly every category: more possession, more shots and more balls sent into the box from the flanks. Paris FC, meanwhile, made the most of its limited chances, at least until the home side turned things around.

According to our own expected goals estimate calculated from the match's shots, Lens generated 0.85 and Paris FC 0.72. Those are close figures, in line with a match that was decided more by specific moments, a lethal counterattack and two well-worked combinations between Thauvin and Hazard, than by any clear gap in overall play.

Heading into the match, our projection gave Lens a 53% chance of winning, a 26% chance of a draw and a 21% chance for Paris FC, with total expected goals of 2.9, split 1.81 for the home side and 1.09 for the visitors. The final result, a 2-1 scoreline with three total goals, landed pretty close to that forecast, even if the path there included the scare of watching Paris FC go ahead right at the start of the second half.

What it means in the standings

The win leaves Lens with 13 points from eight matches played in Ligue 1, with a record of four wins, one draw and three losses. Paris FC, for its part, sits on 14 points from eight matches, with four wins, two draws and two losses. There is just 1 point separating the two sides, which makes clear this match carried more weight than just three points up for grabs in a table that remains tightly packed in the upper-middle section.

For Lens, the match comes down to a show of character after falling behind right at the start of the second half. For Paris FC, on the other hand, there is the sense of having had the match in hand after Koleosho's early goal, only to see it slip away under the home side's second-half push.