With middling results since the winter break – three wins, four wins and three losses – a fixture against bottom-placed Dijon was just what Lens needed.
Franck Haise made just two changes from the team that drew with Reims, swapping out Facundo Medina and Simon Banza for Steven Fortes and Arnaud Kalimuendo. Lens set up in their usual 3-4-1-2 formation.
Just as Nice, Montpellier and Rennes all did, David Linarès changed to a back three to face Lens despite Dijon having exclusively used a back four all season. He made two changes to the side that lost to Nîmes, adding Jonathan Panzo to the backline and Jordan Marié to the midfield at the expense of attackers Bersant Celina and Mama Baldé. They set up in a 3-5-2 shape.
As Dijon sat off in a 5-3-2, Lens found it easy to advance, with the back three spreading wider than Dijon’s front two. They moved the ball down one side then switched it out to the outside centre-back on the other side to push forward. Getting any further than that was tricky though, as they were running into a back five and midfield three shifting across to stop them.
Dijon weren’t exactly offering much going forward either. Much like Reims, they were sometimes stretching their midfielders across the pitch to pull Lens’ midfielders apart, but they weren’t actually using it. Instead they would push the wing-backs up into attack and hit long balls forward. With Lens’ back five against their four men, they were outnumbered though and these long balls were easily mopped up.
This made for a rather uneventful opening half an hour until Lens took the lead. Loïc Badé switched the ball from left to right with a long ball out to Jonathan Clauss, but, with the defensive width given by their back five, Glody Ngonda Muzinga was on top of him quickly. Clauss fought to keep the ball in though as Ngonda Muzinga tried to see it out, winning it back and crossing into the box. Bruno Ecuele Manga headed the ball away but only as far as Seko Fofana, who volleyed it into the net.
After going behind, Dijon immediately began to press higher, pushing Ibrahim Ndong up to support the forwards. This left more space for Lens in midfield though, making it easier for them to cut through the away side.
Dijon rallied well at the start of the second half though. They pressed with much greater intensity, making it much harder for Lens to play through them and pinning them back.
They also started to make use of the space they were creating by dragging the Lens’ midfielders wide, sending passes into the feet of the strikers through the centre.
Finally, Ngonda Muzinga made up for his earlier mistake by equalising. He picked up the ball following a throw-in, avoided the weak challenge of Clauss and fired a shot from the edge of the area, clipping in off the post.
This lasted about 20 seconds of open play before Lens took the lead again. Gaël Kakuta picked up the ball between the lines and was fouled by Panzo, and Banza – who had only just replaced Kalimuendo – volleyed home the resulting free-kick.
Having retaken the lead, Lens kept hold of possession, making Dijon chase them. The away side appeared to have exhausted their energy getting back into the game and couldn’t return to pinning back Lens with their pressing.
Ten minutes later, Dijon were reduced to ten men. Jonathan Gradit stepped in ahead of Aboubakar Kamara to intercept the ball and the Fulham loanee stepped on the centre-back’s ankle as he chased back. It was clumsy rather than malicious yet still ultimately dangerous. This killed off whatever slim hopes Dijon had of getting back into the game.
This wasn’t an impressive performance by Lens and Dijon showed a good attitude as they fought to get back into the match, yet they threw it away with silly mistakes, showing why they are at the foot of the table.
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