Fofana equals best goalscoring tally as Lens hold PSG

Cote d’Ivoire international Seko Fofana has equalled his best goalscoring tally in a single season after he scored in Lens’ 1-1 draw with Paris Saint-Germain in Saturday’s Ligue 1 encounter.

With the Blood and Gold playing out draws in their last two fixtures, they welcomed Mauricio Pochettino’s team to Stade Bollaert-Delelis.

Notwithstanding the quality in PSG’s squad, the hosts took the game to the Parisians and appeared the better side all through the first half.

Goalkeeper Keylor Navas was the busiest player as he was called on to make several crucial saves. First, he kept out a long-range free-kick from Jonathan Clauss before denying a fine volley from Cheick Doucoure.

In the second half, Lens continued to push hard for goals and that paid off in the 62nd minute as they took the lead through Fofana.

After he was set up by Cheick Oumar Doucoure, the Ivorian drove an unstoppable shot at goal and it was fumbled by Navas.

That was a reality check for PSG as they came out blazing with the intention of restoring parity. They almost conceded the second goal on the counter-attack, but David Costa’s strike rebounded off the goalpost and into Navas' arms.

However, Pochettino’s side left with a point as Georgino Wijnaldum rose highest to power a header from Kylian Mbappe’s cross past goalkeeper Jean-Louis Leca.

Fofana now boasts five goals for Franck Haise’s men in 17 appearances in all competitions this season. That number also equalled his best tally in a single campaign.

The last time he scored that many in a season was during his spell at Serie A side Udinese in the 2016-17 campaign. All the goals came in the Italian top-flight as Giuseppe Iachini’s squad - that also paraded Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu (Ghana) and Assane Gnoukouri (Cote d'Ivoire) - finished 13th.

The 26-year-old’s effort also saw him become Lens’ highest goal scorer so far in the French elite division.

Named man-of-the-match for his inspiring display, the African was in action from start to finish alongside Mali’s Cheick Doucoure, while Congo’s Gael Kakuta was subbed off for Florian Sotoca in the 54th minute.

While PSG lead Ligue 1 with 42 points from 17 league fixtures, Lens stay in the fifth spot with 27 points from the same number of matches.