Two Thauvin penalties, one red card and four second-half goals: Bollaert gets its festival
Lens led 1-0 at the break and looked ordinary doing it. Then Auxerre, already down to ten men since the 35th minute, lost the second half 4-2 and the game got away from them entirely.
Bollaert-Delelis got its opening night early: Florian Thauvin scored from the spot after twelve minutes and 38,115 people settled in expecting the rest to follow. It did not, at least not straight away.
Auxerre lost Christ Makosso on 35 minutes — a last-man foul, no argument — and still went in only 1-0 down. Lens had 39% of the ball in that first half. Against ten men. It was not a convincing forty-five minutes.
Then the second half happened
Franjo Ivanović made it 2-0 at 49'. Saud Abdulhamid headed the third at 54'. Auxerre pulled one back through a Danny Namaso penalty at 61', Ganiou restored the three-goal cushion at 66', and Lamine Sy answered again at 69'.
Five goals in twenty minutes, and the possession swung from 39% to 65% after the break. Thauvin closed it from the spot at 88', after VAR had already taken one Lens penalty away four minutes earlier.
Thauvin finished with two goals and an assist. The wider numbers are a warning as much as a celebration: Lens generated 4.45 expected goals from nine big chances, which is an enormous evening in front of goal — and they still conceded twice to a side playing with ten men for an hour.
Match facts
- 12' — Florian Thauvin (Lens), penalty
- 35' — Christ Makosso (Auxerre) sent off, last-man foul
- 49' — Franjo Ivanović (Lens)
- 54' — Saud Abdulhamid (Lens)
- 61' — Danny Namaso (Auxerre), penalty
- 66' — Ganiou (Lens)
- 69' — Lamine Sy (Auxerre)
- 88' — Florian Thauvin (Lens), penalty
| Stat | Lens | Auxerre |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 53% | 47% |
| Total shots | 12 | 10 |
| Shots on target | 9 | 4 |
| Expected goals (xG) | 4.45 | 1.79 |
| Accurate passes | 415 (88%) | 338 (81%) |
| Corners | 4 | 7 |
| Fouls committed | 6 | 21 |
| Saves | 2 | 4 |
| Red cards | 0 | 1 |
What's next
Lens go to Strasbourg on Saturday 29 August, against a side that also lost its opener and will not be in the mood. Auxerre host Angers the same day — a fixture that looks like the right place to start fixing what happened here.
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