TO ANALYSE – Discover the highs and lows of Lens-Troyes, including Kevin Danso’s great performance, the pivotal part played by the Lensois pistons, and Rony Lopes’s uncharacteristically low standing (1-0).
TOPS
Kevin Danso, decisive on both surfaces
The outstanding Austrian defender, who is 23 years old and 1m90 tall, turned in a very strong performance. He saved his side from a point-blank header shortly before halftime (39e), taking a free kick that was beautifully struck by Frankowski to score the only goal of the game. He was impenetrable in defense, always well-placed, and dominant in the aerial field (1-0). Even so, he permitted himself a couple of forays with the ball into the Trojan camp, and one of those forays resulted in an attempt at a long shot that gave his team a corner (65e).
Lensois pistons, centering machines
In Franck Haise’s 3-4-3 system, corridor players play a very vital role, and the effort that Cabot and Frankowski delivered on Friday evening is the perfect embodiment of this point. The two players displayed a high level of involvement, each on their team, by increasing the number of centers and being generous with defensive substitutes. The threat came from the wings quite frequently, but neither Sotoca nor Open were able to capitalize on the numerous possibilities to make a break for it. Frankowski provides the assist that ultimately leads to the goal for Lensois (39th).
The goal that was scored by Danso was assisted by Frankowski. Federico Pestellini / PANORAMIC
The return of Seko Fofana
When missing his team’s previous two matches, Ivorian midfielder Seko Fofana, 27, made his way back onto the field and rejoined his teammates after Poreba was substituted at halftime. In this second period, when Lens sometimes sought to break, and sometimes managed his lead, he was a useful asset, if not the deciding factor. He delivered a lot of movement and was the originator of a few swaying dribbles.
Read also: Lens wins 1-0 against Troyes and takes the lead in the Ligue 1 table for the time being.
FLOPS
The Trojan ambition
After being outplayed for the majority of the first period, we anticipated the players from Bruno Irles to put up a strong fight in the second. However, Troyes was very unwilling to give in, maintaining his 5-4-1 low block, and ultimately did not appear to be able to frighten Brice Samba. Lens was able to quietly control the finish of the match by retaining the ball in their half of the field. This was despite there having been a change of system after Palmer-departure, Brown’s but the anticipated awakening was not quite as strong as it should have been.
Read also: “We had better things to do,” Irle’s regrets, speaking on his team’s performance in Ligue 1 (Troyes)
Rony Lopes, a symbol of ESTAC’s lack of appetite
The Portuguese midfielder may not have had a particularly poor performance, but in any event, he was unable to demonstrate the attributes that are familiar to us about him due to a lack of playing time. Lopes was obliged to defend quite a bit due to his position as a winger on the scorecard. When his team did manage to get possession of the ball, though, he occasionally looked for relays in the axis. Abdu Conté took over the role shortly after the hour mark after he was relieved (65e).