The last time Lens beat Reims at the Stade Auguste-Delaune was the same day Japan surrendered, officially ending World War Two. That was the first time the two sides met in the top flight, but since then, they have met 24 times in Marne, Lens claiming a point just four times as Reims won the other twenty matches.
History was on David Guion’s side then as he made three changes to the team that lost to Lorient, after having also lost in mid-week to Valenciennes in the Coupe de France. Out went Valon Berisha, Dereck Kutesa and Yunis Abdelhamid, replaced by Arbër Zeneli, Nathanaël Mbuku and Marshall Munetsi in a 4-1-4-1 formation.
Franck Haise made four changes to the side that drew with Rennes, having played a weakened team in their mid-week victory over Nantes in the Coupe de France. He brought back Gaël Kakuta, pushing Seko Fofana back into Yannick Cahuzac’s spot in midfield, while Issiaga Sylla, Clément Michelin and Arnaud Kalimuendo were all rotated, giving starts to Massadio Haïdara, Jonathan Clauss and Simon Banza. They used their usual 3-4-1-2 shape.
Reims typically set up in a mid-block, pressing high at goal kicks or if Lens passed back towards their defenders. Boulaye Dia and the two wingers would push up to press the centre-backs, while Mathieu Cafaro and Xavier Chavalerin would push up in support of them. The comfort of Lens’ centre-backs on the ball meant they were generally able to avoid this pressure and play out.
Even when Reims set up in the mid-block, they weren’t particularly compact, with the central midfielders and wingers positioned quite high, leaving space behind them.
With the midfield line drawn high, Moreto Cassama was left with a lot of space to cover behind them. Cheick Doucouré would position himself centrally, dragging Chavalerin inside and opening up the inside channel for Lens to slide passes through. Kakuta would drift around to pick up the ball between the lines, and with Florian Sotoca and Banza dropping off to pick up the ball in these gaps and Fofana advancing, Cassama was often left outnumbered, unable to keep track of Lens’ most dangerous player.
They had the same problem out wide. The wingers would often be preoccupied with Lens’ centre-backs, allowing Lens’ wing-backs to make runs in behind them and cross.
Reims’ build-up often involved them stretching their midfield across the width of the pitch, as the full-backs pushed forward. Cassama sometimes took one of the wide roles, allowing Chavalerin or Cafaro to stay inside. This would drag Fofana and Doucouré into wider positions, leaving space for Dia to drop into through the middle. More often than not though, Reims would simply hit a long ball forward that Lens would easily deal with.
It was Reims who took the lead early on though. Dia dropped off to receive a throw-in, dragging Loïc Badé forward, and laid the ball off to Chavalerin. Doucouré, stretching to try and intercept the throw-in, was left behind as Chavalerin made a run forward, avoiding Fofana too. This had Reims running four-versus-three at Lens’ backline and, while Jean-Louis Leca saved Dia’s shot after Chavalerin returned the ball to him, Zeneli was on hand to head in the rebound.
Having taken the lead, Reims sat off in their mid-block more and, in the second half, they dropped off further, finally keeping their lines tighter together so that Cassama was no longer left isolated.
Lens won a penalty from a corner just before half-time, which Kakauta missed, but it took them just a quarter of an hour in the second half to get back on even terms. Reims’ more defensive mentality backfired as they won back the ball and Ghislain Konan, with his head up looking for non-existent passing options ahead of him, dribbled forward only to run into Doucouré. The Mailian exchanged passes with Clauss to get the wing-back running in behind Konan. Clauss then shimmied past Wout Faes’ challenge and squared the ball to Sotoca to fire home.
Losing their lead immediately woke up Reims, getting them to push higher up again. This nearly cost them though, with Pedrag Rajkovic forced into a double save after Lens countered quickly, then Lens cutting through them again only for Banza’s goal to be chalked off for offside.
Guion changed to a 4-4-2, throwing on El Bilal Touré for Mbuku, however Reims did calm down and start to drop back again rather than continuing to allow Lens through them.
Although this change gave Dia more attacking support, it did open up the midfield. Whenever Lens would play down the right, Cassamo would shift across, but Cafaro would remain wide, closer to Haïdara. This left a massive gap between the two for Lens to play through. On 78 minutes, Cafaro was replaced by Kutesa, who would tuck inside and close this gap back up again.
The game petered out, with Lens having the majority of the ball, trying to break down Reims’ narrow 4-4-2 via attacks down the flanks, while Reims tried to catch Lens out on the counter.
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