Lens have lost and drew matches this season but the loss to Brest was the first time they had actually played poorly. It would be easier said than done to bounce back against an Angers side performing well this season, sitting just three points behind Lens.
Franck Haise made just one change to that side, as Florian Sotoca returned from suspension in place of Corentin Jean in Lens’ usual 3-4-1-2 formation.
Gérald Baticle also made just one change to the team that beat Lorient, bringing in Angelo Fulgini for Pierrick Capelle. Angers set up in a 3-5-2 shape.
Angers had the better of the first half by making Lens unable to press them effectively. They split their back three wide across the pitch, making it so it was impossible for Ignatius Ganago and Sotoca to cover them, and if Gaël Kakuta stepped up to support the press then Seko Fofana and Cheick Doucouré were left outnumbered in midfield, where Angers’ players were mobile, moving around to provide passing options for the centre-backs.
While Angers’ passing was generally quite slick, Lens’ was sluggish, often taking one or two more touches than necessary before moving it on, making it easier than it should have been for Angers to shift across to defend or even pressure Lens.
This was partially due to Angers’ defensive set-up. Generally Mohamed-Ali Cho and Sofiane Boufal would split wide and each pick up one of Lens’ outside centre-backs, meaning they couldn’t switch sides and push forward into midfield as easily as they usually do, however this did leave a big gap through the centre.
Lens failed to exploit this though. Kevin Danso is good on the ball but not nearly as comfortable as his defensive partners or his predecessor Loïc Badé, so he didn’t quite have the confidence to stride forward on the ball to force an Angers player to stop him, or to use the time and space to pick out a breakthrough pass.
With a bit of help from Doucouré dropping back into this space, encouraging Angers’ midfielders to step out, Lens were able to get the ball to Fofana in space towards the left several times though. Nevertheless, the Ivorian had a rare off-day, with little of what he was attempting coming off.
Fofana was partially at fault for Angers’ opening goal. He pushed forward as usual as Lens had possession, but when Sotoca gave it away in midfield, he failed to get back and help defend. This meant Facundo Medina was forced into stepping out because Azzedine Ounahi was left free, as Angers quickly exchanged passes to get into attack. Ounahi moved the ball on with a lovely first touch before Medina could get anywhere near him though, offloading the ball to Boufal as he attacked the gap to finish past Jean-Louis Leca.
Whatever was said to Lens at half-time must have woken them up. They started the second half at a much higher tempo and within ten minutes had taken the lead.
Medina was suffering from some kind of illness so Massadio Haïdara replaced him at half-time. Playing at centre-back but a natural full-back, Haïdara took the opportunity to burst forward on the overlap, playing a one-two with Przemyslaw Frankowski then crossing from the byline to set up Kakuta for a half-volley.
Minutes later they cut through Angers to get a second. With the forwards splitting wide as usual, Fulgini was pulled forward to pressure Danso, leaving Thomas Mangani and Ounahi outnumbered in midfield. Ounahi stuck to Doucouré initially but left him when Danso shaped to pass into the open Fofana. Danso instead took the opportunity to poke the ball through to the now open Doucouré with a disguised pass using the outside of his foot. Doucouré turned out and slid the ball through to Fofana, with Ounahi caught between the two. Fofana drove inside, creating space down the outside for Frankowski, before slipping the ball out to the Pole to cross, with Sotoca finishing at the near post.
Angers soon reclaimed control though. They switched to a 3-4-3, at least in certain situations, with Fulgini pushing up from midfield to the left of the attack, allowing them to press Lens’ centre-backs and engage them higher up the pitch.
In possession they aimed to get the ball to players in between the lines more. Fulgini was there, Boufal would drop off into these gaps and Ounahi would push forward into them too. By outnumbering Lens in this area, they were able to pull apart Fofana and Doucouré, with a large gap frequently opening up between them for an Angers player to exploit.
Angers equalised with twenty minutes remaining. They took a quick corner while Lens were still organising, passing to Fulgini at the corner of the box, who took a touch and curled in a cross. As Lens’ players all rushed out, Romain Thomas made a run into the box and met the cross with a header.
Haise made a triple substitution, making two like-for-like changes by replacing Sotoca and Kakuta with Corentin Jean and David Costa, however he also swapped out Ganago for Yannick Cahuzac, switching to a 3-5-1-1 shape. This allowed Lens to shore up the midfield defensively and see the game out.
It was far from the debacle against Brest, but it still wasn’t a strong performance by Lens, as Angers were the better team. A lot of that had to do with coming up against a smart, technical side though, as Baticle seems to be building at Angers.
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