Tim Weah picked was involved in both Lille goals as he played the duration and picked up a head injury in the process, while Konrad de la Fuente was on the losing end against Lens in Ligue 1 action.
Strasbourg 1 – 2 Lille
Tim Weah and his Dogues headed east over the weekend to take on Racing Club Strasbourg-Alsace and came away with a hard fought victory. The American got the nod and started up front with fellow North American, Jonathan David.
The New York born Weah was responsible for his team’s first goal. He stormed into the box on the left side with Alexander Djiku marking him closely. A tricky move got him around the defender and as he looked up, saw New York born David and served the ball on a plate for the Canuck to whiz it past the keeper from 8-yards out.
The Alsatians hoped for a better half after registering just one shot on goal in the first. But again, it was Lille that had the opponent’s keeper Matz Sels picking the ball out of his net a dozen minutes after the intermission. It was Weah again in the box but this time instead of beating Djiku, the French born Ghana defender unceremoniously brought the American down in the box. David took the ball and completed his brace.
Racing did manage to get one back in the 75th minute from Ibrahima Sissoko but it was too little, too late as the Dogues boarded the bus back home with three points in the bag. With that, they have moved up to ninth place and will hope to climb even higher when they host Olympique de Marseille over the weekend. Before that though is a trip to Austria to take on Brenden Aaronson and Red Bull Salzburg in Champions League action.
Marseille 2 – 3 Lens
Racing Club Lens had to travel from the very north of France to take on Olympique de Marseille on the Mediterranean coast and made the trip worthwhile where they almost blew a 2-0 lead but managed to score the game winner late in the second half. American Konrad de la Fuente started the game on the bench but was called upon by coach Jorge Sampaoli to start the second half.
The Blood & Gold took a two goal lead, starting with one as early as the ninth minute after Marseille’s defensive midfielder Pape Gueye handled the ball in the box and saw the visitor’s awarded a penalty. Florian Sotoca placed the ball to the spot and sent Pau Lopez, OM’s Spanish keeper, the wrong way for the lead.
Lens doubled that in the 27th minute when Polish winger Przemyslaw Frankowski hit one from just inside the 18 yard box and saw it curl under the crossbar at the far post.
Five minutes later however Marseille’s talisman Dimitri Payet got one back from a free kick just to the left of the D. The Frenchman added another in first half stoppage time after Cheikh Dieng was brought down in the box. He too, sent the keeper the wrong way. And that’s how the half ended – a stalemate.
The hosts had a couple of early second half chances, notably from Cengiz Under. The Turk beat the keeper but not the crossbar as it bounced off and was headed goal bound but Jean-Louis Leca made the save.
At the other end however second half sub Wesley Said scored his first goal for his new team with a classy header inside the box that was delivered with pinpoint accuracy by Sotoca. The Frenchman was responsible for one goal and the other two assists.
The home loss sees Lens leapfrog OM into second place, leaving them 10 points behind league leaders PSG and one behind their conquerors for the second spot. Up next however will be a Europa League clash against Galatasaray from the Turkish capital on Thursday evening. They’ll then return to league action over the weekend when it’s their turn to travel all the way to the north of the country to take on Tim Weah and Lille.
Notes
Nicholas Gioacchini was given a few minutes, coming on in the 88th against the leaders of Ligue 1, PSG. The Parisians handed Montpellier the loss after a pair of draws, to stop their points tally from going up. They’ll hope to change that next time out when they host Strasbourg.
