The last time these two clubs met French football was a month away from shutting down to fight the spread of Covid-19. Given Lens were just two points ahead of Troyes when the season was cancelled, that 1-0 victory was key to them getting promoted ahead of their opponents that day, although Troyes would follow them up a year later, winning Ligue 2 in 2021.
Franck Haise made two changes to the side that lost to Lyon last week, with Wuilker Fariñez coming in for the suspended Jean-Louis Leca and Gaël Kakuta replacing Florian Sotoca. After switching to a 3-5-2 against Lyon, Lens reverted to their usual 3-4-1-2 formation.
Laurent Batlles also made two changes to the team that drew with Rennes, swapping out Issa Kaboré and Tristan Dingomé for Youssouf Koné and Gerson Rodrigues in Troyes’ 3-4-3 shape.
The two teams took opposing strategies to defending: Lens found that, with their shapes matching, they easily lined up man-to-man and looked to press Troyes high, whereas Troyes didn’t maintain their 3-4-3 shape out of possession, with the wingers dropping back into midfield, allowing Lens to come forward.
Troyes actually started the game well, keeping hold of the ball in the opening minutes thanks largely to them having the confidence to spread their centre-backs wide across the pitch.
Lens soon took control though. Troyes’ main issue was a lack of compactness. Mama Baldé and Renaud Ripart would drop back to deal with Jonathan Clauss and Przemyslaw Frankowski, leaving Jonathan Gradit and Facundo Medina free, however this midfield line would still remain quite high up the pitch, with Xavier Chavalerin and Rominigue Kouamé pushing up to get tight to Cheick Docuouré and Seko Fofana.
This meant Troyes left a massive gap between their midfield and their defence – perfect for Gaël Kakuta to receive the ball in or Wesley Saïd to drop off into – while also giving Gradit and Medina the time and space on the ball to pick out the passes into these players.
Troyes aimed to combat this by having their centre-backs step out and limit the space Kakuta and Saïd had, but this allowed Arnaud Kalimuendo to isolate the sole remaining centre-back. The opening stages were full of Lens trying to sneak a pass through to Kalimuendo making a run, but not quite reaching him.
This was on show as Lens scored their beautifully-worked opener. Medina picked out a pass into Kakuta between the lines, who kept the ball under the forceful challenge of Jimmy Giraudon, scrambled to his feet and picked out Fofana between the lines again. The Ivorian squared the ball to Saïd, who rolled the ball into space down the right for Clauss to run onto, hitting a low cross towards the back post, where Kalimuendo and Frankowski doubled up on Giulian Biancone. Kalimuendo ran ahead of Biancone, appearing offside, but Koné’s attempt to confront Clauss on the opposite side played him on, leaving him free to tap the ball in at the back post.
Troyes tightened up a bit after going behind, pulling the midfield line back closer to the defence, but this did nothing to actually stem the tide of Lens pressure. It meant there was less space between the lines for Lens’ attackers to exploit, but it only welcomed Lens to come forward more, with both Gradit and Medina given the freedom to push forward far into Troyes’ half, leaving Kevin Danso to take care of the isolated Rodrigues. With Troyes shelling up, Lens happily kept hold of possession, exchanging passes down one side then switching out to the other flank to stretch play.
They doubled their lead just before the half-hour mark, playing down the left before switching it out to Clauss on the right, who had the space to pick out another excellent cross for an even more excellent finish by Saïd at the near post.
Within five minutes, Lens had a third. Troyes tried to press Lens high, but Doucouré received the ball in midfield and turned out, playing forward to Kalimueno to lay off to Kakuta. The Congolese’s pass was cut out, but Saïd retrieved the loose ball and exchanged passes with Kalimuendo to get into a shooting area. Gauthier Gallon saved the initial shot but spilled it for Clauss to tap in, claiming a goal to go with his two assists.
Troyes had finally started trying to pressure Lens’ centre-backs at two goals down, but it was already too late: Lens had found their groove, with their players showing off their comfort on the ball with some slick passing. Troyes’ wingers would push up to press Gradit and Medina, but their wing-backs would rarely step up to support this press, leaving space available on the flanks for Lens’ wing-backs or Fofana to pull out into and receive the ball.
They added a fourth on the counter, with a lovely flicked pass by Fofana to set up Saïd, only for it to be ruled out for offside. Moments later Saïd would be replaced by Sotoca due to injury – the new signing had an excellent game, popping up everywhere in Lens’ build-up and scoring with a superb finish.
It took nearly an hour for Lens to get their fourth proper. Baldé was half-drawn toward Gradit, only for him to pass into Doucouré, who bounced the ball wide to Clauss to advance down the flank. He passed inside to Kakuta, who slipped a pass through to Sotoca, and while Gallon stopped Sotoca’s shot, it deflected through to Frankowski to finish at the back post.
The game had long been completely over as a contest at this point and there was no hope of a Troyes comeback. Their confidence shattered, they sat back and simply looked to spare any further blushes, while Lens held onto the ball to see out their victory.
Troyes were foolish to open themselves up for Lens, but it was a fantastic, dominant performance by les Sang et Or.
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