French League: Nantes Recovers from Monaco Setback to Defeat Lens
Nantes bounced back from their heavy 7-1 defeat against Monaco last week, securing a 3-1 victory over Lens on Sunday in the 23rd round of the French Ligue 1.
With this win, Nantes raised their tally to 24 points, moving up to 14th place and distancing themselves from the relegation zone by five points. Meanwhile, Lens remained in eighth place with 33 points, missing out on valuable points in the race for European spots.
Academy graduate Louie Loro opened the scoring for Nantes in the 35th minute, capitalizing on a rebound from goalkeeper Douglas Augusto.
Nigerian forward Moses Simon doubled the lead from a penalty kick awarded after a VAR review.
Lens reduced the deficit when Moroccan player Neil El Aynaoui successfully converted a penalty in the 64th minute.
However, Lens was reduced to ten men when Angolan player M’Bala Nzola was sent off for kicking the ball towards the referee in the 71st minute.
Nantes took advantage of their numerical superiority, sealing the victory with a third goal by Meschack Elia in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
