And suddenly the thunder of Brest stopped rumbling: the Finistériens' series, thirteen matches without defeat in Ligue 1, ended on Saturday March 9 on the lawn of Lens, winner 1-0 and more than ever a candidate for qualification in the League champions.
This victory rewards the most playful club at the start of the match, more committed in the first period than the runner-up Paris SG, who sometimes seemed timid at the idea of seeing their good series come to an end. Brest, which had not fallen in Ligue 1 since November 5, is assured of retaining second place at the end of this 25th day, with 46 points compared to 42 in third, Monaco, which travels to Strasbourg on Sunday.
But the Bretons had the bad idea of losing a crucial match in the race for the Champions League, against Lens who temporarily moved up to 4th place with 42 units. The Artésiens are guaranteed to finish this day in the top 5, a first this season after a disastrous start (they were last after five days). “We continue our march forward (…). When I arrived (from Monaco), ASM was first, Lens was seventeenth,” smiled Ruben Aguilar, the scorer. “But I knew where I was signing, I knew the project.”
They owe this victory to a lucky goal... on an unlucky action. Author of a magnificent cross curled into the Brest penalty area, David Pereira da Costa, who was playing his 100th professional match, initially saw no one deflect it. After hitting the post, the ball went to Ruben Aguilar, who only had to push it with his head into the goal, Marco Bizot not having had time to get up after diving on the center (32nd).
Electric atmosphere
With confidence, the Lensois continued to move forward like Elye Wahi, who made two small bridges before collapsing in the area after contact with Pierre Less-Melou, too light to deserve a penalty (40th). Brest thwarted for a long time, not creating clear chances before the hour mark and a powerful strike from Hugo Magnetti, too focused on Brice Samba (63rd).
In an electric atmosphere that referee Stéphanie Frappart failed to calm down, Lens then began to tremble against the increasingly enterprising Bretons. Well served in the area, Martin Satriano, freshly entered into play, saw his shot miraculously deflected onto the post by Jonathan Gradit (79th). It was Satriano again who came close to equalizing a few minutes later, on a header that Brice Samba had to intercept between his legs a few centimeters from his line (84th).
In what was one of Lens' rare opportunities to give themselves some breathing room, Adrien Thomasson was not able to shoot a cross from Florian Sotoca (90th), as usual, very active throughout the game. match. But the Brest assaults ended up weakening, to the point of stopping without the Breton club having found the fault. New high-stakes duels await the two clubs next weekend. Against Nice (6th) on Saturday for Lens, and against Lille (5th) on Sunday for Brest.
