Nîmes and Lens met for their Ligue 1 clash with opposing records: Nîmes had yet to win since beating Brest on the first day of the season, while Lens had lost to Nice in their season opener but won every game since.
Jérôme Arpinon made three changes to the side that drew with Lyon, bringing in Yassine Benrahou, Nolan Roux and Birger Meling for Sidy Sarr, Haris Duljevic and Florian Miguel.
Franck Haise made just one change in his usual 3-4-1-2 formation, returning Loïc Badé to the centre of defence after missing the match against Bordeaux through suspension.
It was a back and forth opening to the game, albeit without a great deal of chances, as the ball mainly stayed in midfield. Nîmes went direct, pushing their wingers inside and trying to catch out Lens with long balls, however the away side always looked comfortable repelling these attacks.
Although a flat 4-4-2 in defence, Nîmes often became a sort of 4-3-3 in possession. Zinedine Ferhat would push forward down the right, whereas Benrahou would often take up a more withdrawn central role in midfield, allowing Renaud Ripart to drift wide in attack and Meling space to overlap.
Benrahou and Ferhat switched sides to little effect part way through the first half and had switched back again by the break, but Nîmes looked more effective when they were able to take advantage of the space given to their full-backs out wide, doubling up with diagonal runs back outside from the attackers, rather than being forced inside or surrendering the ball with long passes.
Lens gave the impression of being in greater control because of their more patient passing but they weren’t much more effective. Badé’s willingness to venture forward with the ball if Ripart and Roux spread wide or having one of the midfielders drop in as the tip of a diamond with the back three ensured Lens could always pass around Nîmes’ strikers, opening space for Jonathan Gradit to push forward with the ball, while Nîmes’ narrow 4-4-2 gave Issiaga Sylla and Jonathan Clauss space out wide. Nevertheless, they struggled to convert this into chances, finding their passes cut out before they reached the final third.
The difference between the two sides in the first half was Gaël Kakuta. He was always dropping back ahead of the defence to pick up the ball and attempt passes into the attackers. This led to Lens’ opener: Kakuta picked up the ball from Badé, dribbled past two players and tried to slip a pass into Cheick Doucouré, who lost the ball, but Kakuta reacted quickly to a heavy touch by Lamine Fomba, retrieved the loose ball and whipped in a cross for Ignatius Ganago to finish. Even when Lens’ main attacking strategy is stuttering, so long as Kakuta is on the pitch they look capable of creating something.
Nîmes came out for the second half in a more rigid shape. Benrahou was central while Ripart and Ferhat were pushed out to the flanks in a 4-2-3-1. This wider attack put them in a better spot to take advantage of their few bright spots in the first half, where they had managed to double up on Lens out wide. Now Gaëtan Paquiez dropped back alongside the centre-backs, too far from Sylla for the wing-back to close him down easily, allowing Paquiez the time to pass out while leaving Lens four-against-four at the back.
To protect their lead, Haise switched Lens to a 3-5-2 and kept making defensive changes. They dropped back further and further, eventually only really attacking through the lonely runs of substitute Corentin Jean.
They were unable to hold out for a victory though. Anthony Briançon hit a long ball out towards the left and young substitute Ismaël Boura, initially caught wrong-footed, allowed the ball to float over him to Ripart, who ran in behind and cut the ball back for Ferhat to finish.
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