Four minutes to turn it all on its head
Le Mans were 2-0 up at the break. They did not win. In between, four minutes of the second half passed.
Sima pulled one back in the 47th minute. Ivanovic levelled it in the 51st. Two goals after the restart, and the whole match flipped. RC Lens left Stade Marie-Marvingt with a point that, as of the 44th minute, looked straight out of fantasy land.
2-2, then. And plenty of questions on both sides.
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The newcomers had 45 minutes of dreams
Le Mans were no fluke in the first half. Bourabaa opened the scoring in the 32nd minute, Calodat doubled the lead in the 44th. For a newly promoted side getting its first taste of the top flight, scoring twice in 12 minutes against a team that had been in Champions League action three days earlier was hardly trivial.
Promoted clubs have rarely struggled to score. The real issue has almost always been holding on. Le Mans found that out the hard way on Sunday, surrendering a two-goal lead before the hour mark, at home, in front of their own fans.
Still, they banked a point. And they also got proof, for a dressing room that needed it, that this level is not beyond them.
Lens pay for their European week
Three days earlier, Lens had won in Prague on Slavia’s pitch. A result that sparked plenty of noise, from Florian Thauvin’s immediate reaction to the eye-catching Champions League debut of young Mezian Mesloub.
The return to league action was a lot rougher. Forty-five minutes of barely showing up, then 15 minutes to turn everything around, then the rest of the match without ever finding a third goal.
It’s the familiar story for French clubs when the double schedule bites. The energy spent in midweek gets charged up on the weekend, rarely in the slickness of play, almost always in the opening spell.
Lens rescued a point. They would have snapped your hand off for it at half-time. Now comes the awkward bit: explaining the first 45 minutes.
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