Lens win at the death in Auxerre!
Despite going down to ten men, RC Lens picked up a gritty win in Auxerre, moving to a provisional fourth place ahead of the international break. Get all the latest from the Stade Abbé-Deschamps with our match report.
Lens in charge from the off
Coming into the match, Lens had delivered a strong start to the season, with losses only to high-flying Paris Saint-Germain and Lyon across the first siex matches, highlighted by a massive derby win over LOSC Lille. But a trip to Burgundy has rarely been easy since Auxerre won promotion back to Ligue 1 McDonald's, with Christophe Pélissier's teams difficult to break down.
But it would be Lens who built on their goof form from the off on Saturday night, as Donovon Leon was forced into a fine save with just ten minutes on the clock. Summer arrival Odsonne Édouard ran onto a ball from Adrien Thomasson, but was denied by the Auxerre. Four minutes later, it was a different story as the former Toulouse and Crystal Palace forward netted for the first time since returning to the French top, showing a fine bit of skill and an inch-perfect finish into the bottom corner. From there, the match settled somewhat, but Lens were grateful as Danny Namaso could only hit the post (34'), and Le Sang et Or held the lead at the break.
➡️ Win with 10 men
➡️ 4 wins in their last 6 matches
➡️ 96’ winner
CRAZY DAY FOR LENS. 🔴🟡🔥 pic.twitter.com/C01ptU09ny— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) October 4, 2025
Sima wins the match from the bench
Into the second half, Auxerre continued to push t bring themselves back into the match, and Lassine Sinayoko wasn't far away on the hour, as his effort cutting in from the right was just blocked by a Lens defender. From the resulting corner, Marvin Senaya struck a powerful header off the bar, and Francisco Sierralta turned the ball in to level the match at one-all.
Things went from bad to worse for Lens with fifteen minutes to play as the visitors, already missing the suspended Jonathan Gradit, saw Pierre-Ismaëlo Ganiou sent off. But as they had last weekend, when playing with ten men for nearly the entire match, the northern side showed plenty of fight, and in the sixth minute of added time, substitute Abdallah Sima netted a winner from a corner, making it 2-1 and sealing a fine evening.
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