Recap: El Aynaoui stuns Marseille in big win for Lens

Lens mount a smash-and-grab win away to Marseille to put an end to a torrid run of four defeats in a row.

Will Still punched the air with glee at the full-time whistle, high-fiving his assistant - and brother - with a palpable sense of emotion. The Anglo-Belgian has had a torrid couple of weeks recently, with Lens losing their last four matches on the bounce. Yet, that would change at the Vélodrome on Saturday night, as Neil El-Aynaoui's last-gasp strike handed the Sang & Or a vital victory against a Marseille side that were all too often wasteful in front of goal.

Les Marseillais came into the game with enough motivation as it was to try and keep up their push to secure Champions League football, let alone with a Classique clash against Paris Saint-Germain on the horizon next weekend. Will Still's side, on the other hand, were trying to put an end to a horrific run of four defeats in a row - the Vélodrome would be a tough place to get back on track. But not impossible.

Roberto De Zerbi's men were on the front foot from kick-off, with Dedic finding some space in the box and unleashing a strike over the bar. After an initial wave of pressure from the hosts, Lens would begin to settle into the game. But the odd foray didn't prove dangerous enough and OM quickly got back on the front foot. Quentin Merlin slipped Amine Gouiri through, and the Algerian poised himself well but managed to rattle the crossbar with his strike from just inside the box.

From out of nowhere Lens found themselves with a glorious chance to go in front as Wesley Saïd flicked through Andy Diouf one-on-one with Géronimo Rulli, but the Argentine made himself big and managed to pull off a fantastic save. It was then Matt Ryan's turn to get in on the action as Amine Gouiri pulled off a lovely give-and-go with Højbjerg and the Australian Ryan parried away before tipping over Balerdi's header from the following corner.
 

At half-time, Roberto De Zerbi opted to bring on his main man Mason Greenwood as well as Luis Henrique. Whilst it gave some more attacking impetus for OM, Les Olympiens almost made a mess of things when Valentin Rongier gave away the ball to Nampalys Mendy, and Andy Diouf bore down on goal. It was a mix of a Rulli and an OM defender's leg which stopped the ball from going into the back of the net. Marseille struggled to deal with Lens' low-block to the credit of Will Still's setup, and De Zerbi had to call upon Neal Maupay to complete the attack in the closing phases of the game. Luis Henrique had a huge chance to put Les Olympiens ahead late on, but his volley was blasted over the bar. Neal Maupay had a glorious chance to put OM ahead just minutes later, when he was served through on goal from Rongier, twisting Sarr inside out and striking on goal but Matt Ryan was equal to make the save.

There would be a late twist to the tale, as Marseille failed to take advantage and simply didn't have enough shots on goal. A ball was floated over the top for Deiver Machado in the third minute of added-on time, and the Colombian cut inside Rongier and put the ball on a plate for Neil El-Aynaoui who rocketed the ball into the roof of the net.
 

THE STAT: 93 Minutes and 11 seconds

After 93 minutes and 11 seconds, Neil El Aynaoui scored the latest opening goal for Lens in Ligue 1 since Opta began analyzing the competition (2006-07). The Moroccan has scored in each of his last three L1 matches, having found the net in just two of the first 38.

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