A historic night was experienced this Tuesday in Bollaert-Delelis. Lens played a Champions League match again at home after 21 years and crowned its return in a big way. They defeated Arsenal, the Group B favourites, after a 1-0 draw and took the lead by taking advantage of the tie that occurred in the other group match, PSV-Sevilla.
The fans, engaged from the first minute, celebrated the prestigious victory over Arteta’s team as if it were a title.
The rivalry started fiercely but Lens had more bite, although it was Arsenal who struck first. In his first clear chance, Gabriel Jesús opened the scoring in the 14th minute after taking advantage of a very serious mistake by Thomasson. The gunner eleven is deadly.
Arsenal had the second, but Samba survived and ten minutes later, he drew the French eleven level with a fine goal from Thomasson, a superb piece to repay his English ‘gift’.
LENS
21
ARSENAL
Lenses: Samba; Gradit, Danso, Medina; Frankowski, Abdul Samed, N. Mendy (Diouf, m.73), Machado (Aguilar, m.81); Sotoca, Wahi (Said, m.73) and Thomasson (Fulgini, m.73)
Arsenal: Raya; Tomiyasu, Saliba, Gabriel, Zintchenko (White, m.70); Odegaard (Nketiah, m.80), Rice, Havertz (Smith-Rowe, m.71); Saka (Fabio Vieira, m.34), Gabriel Jesus and Trossard (Nelson, m.71)
Goals: 0-1, m.14: Gabriel Jesus; 1-1, m.25: Thomasson; 2-1, m.69: Wahi
Referee: Marco Guida (ITA), warned Samd and Gabriel Jesús.
Incidents: The Champions League group stage match played at the Bollaert-Delelis stadium in Lens in front of around 40,000 spectators.
see the match sheet
After the break, Arteta’s team came out energized, ready to score. Trossard stroked the second English goal (49′). Like Samed for Lens in 64′. The match was a give and take as the English pressed but struggled to do damage against an aging Lens.
And the prize came for the local push. In the 69th minute, Wahi, who justified the millions they paid for him, slammed a fine shot past David Raya. The Gunners gasped for their last breath and with a minute to go they got the win, but Lens defended like a cat in its belly, hard but fine and the win didn’t fly from Bollaert-Delelis. The stadium collapsed and the fans celebrated the historic victory in style. The surprise came, even though this Lens was not in the Champions League, because they scored in Pizjuán and now beat a whole Arsenal team.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
