Slavia Praha 2-3 Lens: result and report

Report

Lens won 3-2 with two goals in stoppage time, a late reward for the side that created more chances throughout. Slavia Praha still led twice despite playing almost the whole second half with ten men, so this was a game they let slip as much as one Lens won.

The first half was goalless, though the game changed quickly after the break. Mikuláš Konečný was sent off on 49 minutes. Yet Slavia Praha went ahead two minutes later when Danijel Sturm scored from Samuel Isife's pass.

Abdallah Sima equalised on 73 minutes, set up by Odsonne Édouard. Sturm then struck again on 88 minutes, and at that point the ten men looked to have done enough. Instead, Florian Thauvin levelled in the first minute of stoppage time from Mezian Mesloub's assist, and Ruben Aguilar won it two minutes later.

Lens: volume against quality

The numbers explain why the late goals came, because the pressure ran one way. Lens had 14 shots to eight, eight on target to five and four big chances to two. They also had 63% of the ball, 19 key passes to 13 and a far higher pressure reading across the match.

The counter-signal is chance quality. Slavia Praha still finished with the higher xG, 1.79 to 1.49, from far fewer shots. So while Lens created more often, Slavia Praha's best openings were the better ones, which makes conceding twice so late harder to take.

Thauvin was named player of the match, and his equaliser mattered most because it came after Slavia Praha had restored their lead with two minutes left.