Racing Club de Lens 1-0 Saint-Etienne: Late Penalty Goal Enough For In-Form Hosts

Les Sang et Or scored a late penalty goal to defeat Sainte, and it was only a strong performance from the visiting goalkeeper to keep the game close...

Dec 22, 2009 10:46:52 PM

More On :  AS Saint-Etienne, RC Lens, RC Lens vs AS Saint-Etienne
Eduardo (RC Lens)

The good form of Racing Club de Lens continued on Tuesday evening, defeating Saint-Etienne at the Stade Felix-Bollaert to cement their place firmly in the centre of Ligue 1.
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Lens pummelled the visitors’ goal for long periods, with only the excellence of visiting stopper Jeremie Janot preventing les Verts slipping to a heavy defeat. Instead, the guests suffered late heartbreak, with a handball in the box allowing Eduardo to convert from 12 yards.

It took only eight minutes for in-form Janot to excel himself, somehow blocking a fine Samba Sow header before denying Toifilou Maoulida on the follow-up. Alaeddine Yahia might have converted the second rebound, but he skewed his effort wide.

Dimitri Payet threatened to quickly strike for the guests, but he shot into the side netting and normal service was quickly resumed as a centre from Kanga Akale was forced towards the top corner by Abdoulrazak Boukari, but Janot got across brilliantly to make another stunning block.

More fine goalkeeping would be required to kick away another Maoulida effort, with Janot seemingly having been sent the wrong way by the striker.

Gelson Fernandes’ 25-yard drive reminded the hosts of the threat the guests could pose on their sporadic forays forward less than ten minutes prior to the break.

The pattern of the game was maintained after the interval, with Lens still doing the majority of the pressing. Yohan Demont warmed the palms of Janot with an ambitious effort from distance before Adil Hermach flashed a strike narrowly over the top.

For a brief spell with around 15 minutes remaining, les Verts actually created a couple of fine opportunities. Ilan threatened from inside the box, but a tremendous flying block from Yahia. The defender was the hero on that occasion but so nearly became the villain only moments later, deflecting a Cedric Varrault cross narrowly wide of Vedran Runje’s net.

Lens wrestled control back of the game but seemed destined to be frustrated when Yahia’s header was blocked by Janot, who watched helplessly as Akale blasted wide.

After grimly hanging to a scoreless draw for so long, luck was to pan out against the guests. A long ball forward was unimpressively cleared towards Maoulida, who was the victim of a clumsy challenge inside the box from Blaise Matuidi. Replays showed the forward probably handled the ball in the build-up to the goal, but the outcome had been decided, and so too had the game, as Eduardo coolly converted.

It was a miserable conclusion to the match for Sainte, whose 2009 seems to have lurched from catastrophe to catastrophe. Lens, on the other hand, can sit back and look contentedly at their performance, which was more impressive than the final score suggests.

Robin Bairner, Goal.com
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