Lens, a modest yet ambitious northern club boasting huge regional support, climbed to the summit for the first time in twenty-one years last weekend. They are guaranteed to stay top regardless of PSG's result against Rennes. Currently, Lens lead with thirty-four points, four clear of PSG, while Lille and Marseille trail on twenty-nine points following Lille's Friday win.
Florian Thauvin, formerly of Newcastle, sparked Lens' fifth straight victory with a thirty-fourth-minute opener. While Nantes equalized through Youssef El-Arabi, Wesley Said scored the decisive late winner. Thauvin, a 2018 World Cup champion, spent years outside the spotlight in Mexico and Italy before finally joining Lens. The thirty-two-year-old is enjoying a renaissance, netting five vital league goals. He also remarkably scored during his first France appearance in six years recently, replacing Kylian Mbappe against Azerbaijan, finally ending his long international wilderness with a truly memorable and impressive comeback performance.