Lens put five past Angers to go top

RC Lens beat SCO Angers 5-1 at the Stade Bollaert on Friday night to temporarily go top of Ligue 1 McDonald's. PSG have the chance to respond when they face OGC Nice on Saturday night.

Thauvin puts Lens in front

Lens knew that, heading into Friday night's meeting, a win would take them provisionally top of Ligue 1 McDonald's at Paris Saint-Germain's expense. Whilst Angers began this game brightly, it was Pierre Sage's side who took the lead. Whilst Florian Thauvin was absent from Didier Deschamps' squad announcement on Thursday, the former Marseille playmaker once again staked a claim to be a part of the national team set-up going forward, finishing after Saud Abdulhamid had kept the ball in play (13').

Having got the goal, Lens' confidence was clear to see and they would go on to put on a display in front of their home fans. Their lead was doubled on the 25-minute mark when Odsonne Édouard rounded Oumar Pona and tapped home. That came after Le Sco had tried and failed to play out from the back, with Thauvin rewarded for his diligent defensive work with a high recovery.

Lens, back on top of the league for now 👀📈 pic.twitter.com/gcvtftNBS5
— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) March 20, 2026

The game was essentially ended as a contest before half-time. Mamadou Sangaré has scored some excellent goals this season, with his long-range finish against Strasbourg a standout, and this was right up there from the young midfielder, who controlled and then finished from outside the box, his shot clipping the post on its way in (39').

There was a relentlessness to this Lens performance, too. Upon the return from the dressing room, Édouard doubled his tally on the night (48'). Once again, it was the excellent Thauvin who was pulling the strings. The Frenchman's defence-splitting pass put it on a tee for Édouard, Les Sang et Or's top goalscorer this season.

A derby du Nord coming up

Thereafter, it felt a question of how many Lens would score, but it was Angers' turn to respond. Lanroy Machine, on his first start for Angers, got his side on the scoresheet, finishing from a Lilian Raolisoa cross (62').

But this would not be the start of a comeback story and Matthieu Udol made sure of that when he volleyed home (72'). He was another who would have been wanting his name to be announced by Deschamps and he made another argument to be included.

It was an emphatic win for Pierre Sage's side, who bounced back from last weekend's disappointing loss to Lorient to get their title challenge back on track. They will face their fierce local rivals, Lille, upon the return from the international break.

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