Ligue 1 McDonald’s, Gameweek 31, 24/04/2026
There was little rest for RC Lens following their Coupe de France semi-final win over Toulouse FC on Tuesday, as they were back in action in the league tonight, traveling to Stade Brestois. Fatigue caught up with the visitors in the first half before they mounted an impressive resistance that ultimately failed to deliver the result they needed to keep their title dreams realistically alive. (3-3)
It was déjà vu for Pierre Sage as he watched his Lens side fall apart at the early doors. Like their last league outing on Friday, when they had to fight back to overturn Toulouse’s two-goal lead, Lens suffered a bruising first half.
The first goal even somewhat mirrored Cristian Cásseres’ opener for Toulouse, with Daouda Guindo picking up the ball outside of the box and firing home from distance. And like the week before, there were certainly questions for Robin Risser’s goalkeeping.
Lucas Tousart would double the lead when he outleaped the Sunderland loanee Arthur Masuaku to head in Guido’s cross. A humbling start swiftly turned horrendous as Ludovic Ajorque played creator with a brilliantly timed run to set up the former Paris Saint-Germain academy product Éric Junior Dina Ebimbe for the third of the evening.
Sage would make a quadruple change early in the second half with Saud Abulhamid, Alan Saint-Maximin, Florian Thauvin, and Samson Baidoo coming on for Ruben Aguilar, Wesley Saïd, Florian Sotoca, and Masuaku. And with this facelift, a familiar swagger returned to Lens.
The break would finally come for Lens when Soumaïla Coulibaly tried to play the ball out from the back. The centre-back’s pass down the centre was woefully misjudged and a simple enough pass for Thauvin to collect and then send past Grégoire Coudert.
Lens would reduce the deficit to just one goal when Abdallah Sima turned Abdulhamid’s home in the 64th minute. It would be the striker’s last act in a game where he had missed several gilt-edged chances before discovering his killer instinct against a team he had spent last season on loan at.
Lens would maintain their pressure on Brest, but as the minutes slipped away, pressure turned to desperation. Saint-Maximin would deliver a beautiful strike from outside the box in added time to fuel belief. And for a moment, Lens believed in their own destiny as Odsonne Édouard shot from point-blank range with the last kick of the game, forcing a spectacular save from Coudert.
Lens would recue a point, but a point didn’t feel enough in their title tilt. Paris Saint-Germain go three points clear at the top of the table ahead of their match against Angers tomorrow evening. For Lens, it felt like their league dreams likely ended tonight.
Robin Risser, 2
Arthur Masuaku, 3
A clash of heads with Lucas Tousart would end his night early in the second half.
Malang Sarr, 3
Ismaëlo Ganiou, 4
Matthieu Udol, 3
Adrien Thomasson, 6
A much-improved second half following the quadruple change. Thomasson finally had the tools with which to work with when Sage made the changes. It was like night and day, with the midfielder pulling off these creative runs and passes that unlocked the Brest low block.
Mamadou Sangaré, 6
Ruben Aguilar, 5
He had looked fairly promising for Lens in the first half as one of their only attacking threats. His substitution was a bit of a surprise, but Sage clearly knows what he’s doing, as he was replaced by Saud Abdulhamid, who injected some excellent movement out on the right and delivered the killer ball for the second goal.
Wesley Saïd, 2
Abdallah Sima, 5
His final act managed to secure a much better rating. Sima had two good chances in the first half to threaten Coudert’s goal, but neither of which he could get on target. In the second half, he would hit the post and then couldn’t do anything with the rebound. It looked as if it wasn’t going to be his night, but he came to instead represent the never-say-die nature of this plucky Lens side.
Florian Sotoca, 2
Daouda Guindo, 8
A fantastic first half for the Mali left back. He showed so much attacking potential, picking up a goal and an assist, and showed his work on the defensive side by keeping Florian Sotoca quiet. It was a lot quieter in the second half. He was unable to prevent Saud Abdulhamid’s cross for the second goal.
Kenny Lala, 7
Kept Matthieu Udol quiet throughout the game.
Éric Junior Dina Ebimbe, 6
Ludovic Ajorque, 7
