With an amazing 3-1 victory at Stade Bollaert-Delelis, second-placed Lens proved their Ligue 1 title credentials, handing Paris Saint-Germain their first loss of the year.
In a thrilling game on New Year’s Day, goals from Przemyslaw Frankowski, Lois Openda, and Alexis Claude-Maurice cut PSG’s lead at the top to four points.
Hugo Ekitike’s goal in the first half gave Christophe Galtier’s team a chance to equalize the score, but they ultimately came up short in their opening 2023 match as they wait for Lionel Messi to return after Argentina’s World Cup victory.
Franck Haise, the manager of Lens, had the perfect start to 2023 as he celebrated his 100th game in charge.
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With Frankowski on hand to provide the finishing touch after Gianluigi Donnarumma could only deflect Massadio Hadara’s strike into his path five minutes in, a boisterous crowd did not have to wait long for fireworks.
Three minutes later, PSG quickly answered. Ekitike lobbed the ball over Brice Samba despite the goalkeeper for Lens claiming the forward kicked the ball out of his hands.
After adjusting to the setback, Lens scored a breakaway goal just before the half-hour mark. Openda received a pass from captain Seko Fofana, beat Marquinhos, and then fired under Donnarumma.
When Claude-Maurice scored two minutes after the restart thanks to Openda’s excellent backheel assist, things only got worse for PSG.
The titans of Paris had no chance of recovering after Lens proved they could compete for the title.
PSG was aware that a victory would have given them a dominating 10-point lead, but Lens were outstanding in the top-two showdown to demonstrate their mettle.
Losing closes the deficit and ends the champions’ 12-game winning streak in road games in the French premier division.
On Saturday, Lens will play Linas-Montlhery in the Coupe de France, while PSG will visit Chateauroux the day before.