Lens 2-1 Lyon: Matthieu Udol scores the winner, then gets sent off for giving it back

Matthieu Udol had the best and the worst of nights in the space of eight minutes. The Lens left-back headed in Florian Thauvin's free-kick in the 76th minute to put his side 2-0 up, then was sent off in the 84th for a challenge on Lyon substitute Khalis Merah — and watched from the tunnel as Merah himself scored the resulting penalty-box chance to pull one back. It wasn't enough: Lens held on to win 2-1 at the Bollaert-Delelis, taking only their second league victory of the season but doing it against the side that had arrived unbeaten and second in the table.

Sotoca first, then a long wait for the second

• 36' — Florian Sotoca (Lens)
• 76' — Matthieu Udol (Lens), header from a Florian Thauvin free-kick
• 84' — Matthieu Udol sent off (Lens)
• 85' — Khalis Merah (Lyon), his first Ligue 1 goal

Florian Sotoca's finish ten minutes before the break gave Lens the lead their first-half performance deserved, but Lyon — unbeaten in five matches and the division's best defensive record coming in — were never truly out of it until Udol's header made it 2-0 with 14 minutes to go. The goal owed everything to Thauvin, who whipped in the free-kick that Udol met at the back post; Thauvin was named Man of the Match for his part in both Lens goals of the night.

A red card, a reply, and a hold-on finish

Udol's dismissal, for a challenge on the on-loan teenager Merah, looked like it might cost Lens the win entirely. Merah needed only a defensive mistake to convert his chance a minute later, his first Ligue 1 goal, and Lyon pushed for an equaliser with the extra man for the remaining stoppage time. It did not come. Lens, down to ten for the closing stages, saw out a result that ends their longest wait of the season for a second home league win.

From beating PSG to this: Lens' stop-start season

Lens opened their campaign by beating PSG 1-0 in the Trophée des Champions back in August, but Ligue 1 points had been much harder to find since: a 5-2 win over Auxerre was followed by defeats to Strasbourg and Lorient, a Champions League win over Slavia Praha, a draw at Le Mans and a loss at Monaco. Going into this match Lens sat 15th on 4 points from five games — only their third win in eight competitive matches all season. Beating a side that had taken 11 points from a possible 15 is their best result of the campaign so far.

Lyon's unbeaten start ends

For Lyon, this was a first defeat of the season after an opening five matches that read three wins and two draws, conceding only twice in the process — the division's meanest defence before kickoff. They had gone into the weekend second in the table, two points off the top, and left having missed the chance to close that gap. A red card against the run of general play and a dogged home side proved a difficult combination to overcome, even for a team that had barely put a foot wrong all season.

What's next

The win lifts Lens from 15th to 7th in the table on 7 points, their best position of the season so far. Lyon stay 2nd, still well placed near the top despite the first dropped points of their campaign. For a Lens side that beat the champions in August but had struggled for league form since, a win over the team that had been chasing top spot is the kind of result the rest of the season can be built on.