Having not won any of their last four games, and just two of their opening nine, the international break came at a good time for Montpellier.
New coach Olivier Dall’Oglio made just one change to the side that drew with RC Strasbourg before the break, with Junior Sambia replacing Arnaud Souquet at right back in their 4-2-3-1 formation.
Franck Haise was forced into two changes to the team that beat Stade de Reims, as Facundo Medina was suspended and Gaël Kakuta injured, giving youngsters Christopher Wooh and David Costa starts. Lens continued in a 3-4-3 shape, suggesting they have moved away from their previous 3-4-1-2.
Montpellier generally found it quite easy to play through Lens. Jordan Ferri would often drop back into the backline to help the centre-backs play out, while Joris Chotard would come deep. Combine this with Jonas Omlin getting involved in the build-up and Montpellier were quite easily able to play around Lens’ front three into midfield.
As Montpellier took their front three out of the equation, Lens were left with just two men to cover the midfield. With Nicolas Cozza and Sambia taking it in turns to push forward into attack, Stephy Mavididi and Florent Mollet were happy to tuck inside into the centre, joining Téki Savanier. This meant Montpellier were able to outnumber Lens to play around their front three, then outnumber Lens to play around Seko Fofana and Cheick Doucouré in midfield, exchanging quick passes so the pair couldn’t get near them.
One frequent move was for a player to pull out to the left touchline, usually Savanier. With Cozza pushing forward to push Jonathan Clauss back, no one would be close to the Montpellier man pulling wide, meaning either they had space to use, or Clauss would be pulled forward, leaving space to attack in behind him, or Doucouré would be forced across, opening up space inside.
Montpellier were also effective when they chose to go long. Having an attack comprising four players, often joined by one of the full-backs, they had plenty of players available to fight for a direct pass despite Lens’ back five. They helped to give themselves a better chance by shifting their attackers over to one side, meaning that even if Lens had a numerical advantage in an overall defence-versus-attack match-up, in that one area Montpellier outnumbered or at least matched them. While some players would run in behind, Savanier would usually hold back in the attacking midfield area, meaning that even if Lens could win the initial ball – which was most of the time – Montpellier’s captain would be on hand to win the second ball and continue the attack. On paper, Doucouré and Fofana should have been there to combat this, but they were typically dragged forward to support their attackers, leaving Savanier free.
While Montpellier were finding it quite simple to play around Lens, the away side were struggling to play around Montpellier’s press. Mavididi and Mollet would typically stay fairly central, in positions between Lens’ outside centre-backs, wing-backs and deep midfielders, able to pressure all three. Their full-backs would also push up to help them, discouraging Jean-Louis Leca from attempting an aerial pass out to the wing-backs.
Lens adjusted by having Jonathan Gradit tuck inside into the central midfield area, doubling up on the space Savanier was defending, while Kevin Danso would pull out to the right. Montpellier dealt with this by slightly adapting their shape, having one of the wingers push up to join Valère Germain and one of the holding midfielders push up to join the press if needed.
Regardless, Leca spent most of his time trying to find Florian Sotoca with a direct pass. With Sotoca good in the air and Montpellier exposing their defence in order to support the press, the idea wasn’t necessarily a bad one, but it never worked out, with Montpellier usually winning back possession straight away. By the end of the first half Lens had given up on trying to play short from goal kicks, pushing their defensive line up the pitch and going long.
It took until early in the second half for Montpellier to turn their superiority into a goal. It was a counter to a counter. Przemyslaw Frankowski stepped up and robbed an overly calm Mollet of the ball, enabling Lens to burst forward at Montpellier’s defence. Frankowski was too slow to release the ball though, allowing Mollet to get back and tackle him. Whereas when Mollet first had the ball, all of Lens’ players were in front of him, now five had pushed forward on the counter. Alone in midfield, Doucouré tried to contain Mollet as he advanced, but this left Savanier free to receive a pass and take the time to pick out a through ball for Mavididi, although he was helped by Danso tripping up as he retreated, leaving the Englishman free to pick out a finish.
Montpellier began to sit off more after taking the lead, with Mollet sometimes dropping back into defence to form a back five, allowing Sambia to tuck inside and ensure the centre-backs weren’t overrun by Lens’ front three.
Haise made changes in attack, with Corentin Jean and Wesley Saïd replacing Arnaud Kalimuendo and Costa, however it wasn’t until Charles Boli came on for Wooh that the actual set-up changed. Lens switched to a 4-3-3, with Boli playing on the right of the midfield three. Boli was one of the few positives for Lens in Ligue 2 but this was his first appearance for the club since their promotion, having been loaned out to Paris FC last season, and he soon showed his worth by whipping a cross to the far post. Likewise, Deiver Machado replaced Frankowski, providing a left-footer on the left rather than the Pole cutting inside onto his stronger right, and he found Jean at the far post only for him to head into the ground.
This was probably Lens’ worst performance of the season so far, but it was one that was forced upon them by an excellent display by Montpellier. The home side played around Lens with some beautiful passing and Savanier ran the game.
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