Monaco 2-1 Lens: bitter defeat for Cahuzac in his major debut on the bench

Yannick Cahuzac could not have dreamed of a more complicated start on the RC Lens bench. For his first match as head coach of the Sang et Or, the Lens tactician suffered defeat on Friday evening at Monaco (2-1), in the opening match of matchday 5 of Ligue 1.

Yet Lens had started well. Abdallah Sima created the first chance as early as the 3rd minute, before the Artésiens claimed a penalty in the 21st minute following a handball by Sadibou Sané in the box. But Monaco gradually took control of the match.

The Monégasques were eventually rewarded in the 32nd minute. Matthis Abline perfectly set up Paris Brunner, who opened the scoring. Lens then had to rely on Robin Risser to prevent the gap from widening before the break.

Lens comes back, then cracks again

Cahuzac's half-time talk clearly bore fruit. More aggressive and better organised, Lens completely changed their approach.

In the 57th minute, Florian Thauvin found Matthieu Udol on a corner. The defender headed the ball home fiercely to level the score for both sides.

Lens could even have taken the lead. Thorgan Hazard in particular had two promising chances, in the 60th and 74th minutes. But Monaco held firm before striking again in the final quarter of an hour.

In the 83rd minute, Paris Brunner put pressure on the Lens defence and Jonathan Gradit ended up deflecting the ball into his own net. A cruel twist of fate for the Sang et Or: 2-1 for Monaco.

Lens pushed until the very end. In stoppage time, Udol headed the ball again from a Bulatović free kick, but Lukáš Hrádecký stepped in to preserve Monaco's three points.

Cahuzac: 'A lot of frustration'

After the match, Yannick Cahuzac mainly took note of his team's response after the break.

'There is a lot of frustration', admitted the coach, who nevertheless felt that his players had responded well to the difficulties encountered in the first half.

'Monaco caused us a tactical problem in the first half, we managed to fix it, and I think the second half was of good quality', he explained.

Cahuzac in particular mentioned a defensive adjustment made at half-time: Lens needed to better manage the spaces left behind their attacking players.

'We made a big adjustment at half-time to push a little less high up the pitch, particularly on the flanks.'

The result nevertheless remains negative. 'I am quite proud of the lads', added the Lens coach, while regretting that his side could not bring back at least a point from Monaco.

For Lens, the international break now arrives with an important task ahead. Racing showed two different faces at the Stade Louis-II, but leave with a third defeat in five matchdays.