ONE TOUCH INSIGHT
Lens showed the mental edge Slavia Prague lacked when it mattered most. Down twice and reduced to ten men, the French side refused to fold, instead finding two stoppage-time goals to snatch a 3-2 win. That resilience, not just the late flurry, reveals a squad learning to win ugly — a trait often missing in their recent Europa League campaigns.
The turning point came not in the 90th minute but earlier, when Slavia’s red card failed to break Lens’ shape. Despite the numerical disadvantage, they kept pressing high and forced errors that led to the equaliser. It was discipline, not desperation, that created the chance for the winner.
Their next test is whether this grit translates to consistency against deeper defences in Ligue 1, starting with the trip to Marseille.
AI-assisted · generated from BBC Sport reporting, not editor reviewed
