Lens 2-1 Arsenal (Thomasson 25′, Wahi 69′ | Jesus 14′)
STADE BOLLAERT-DELELIS — Mikel Arteta has just five days to pick his Arsenal side up for a top-of-the-table clash with Manchester City on Sunday after talisman Bukayo Saka staggered off injured before watching the Gunners downed 2-1 by Lens last night.
Saka has played in 87 consecutive Premier League games for the Gunners, a run that spans more than two years, but Arteta resisted the urge to give him a rest against Ligue 1 runners-up Lens.
And the French side proved they were not to be underestimated, Adrien Thomasson cancelling out Gabriel Jesus’s opener to level the game after half an hour, before highly-rated 20-year-old Elye Wahi scored from 12 yards out to complete the turnaround.
An UNREAL equaliser from Lens
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 3, 2023
Adrien Thomasson with a sublime finish#UCL pic.twitter.com/cSGX8wGIPW
Just under 2,000 Arsenal fans had made the trip, swelling the population of the small city of Lens by 5 per cent for a few hours, but they initially struggled to make themselves heard over the raucous residents, celebrating their first Champions League home game in 21 years.
But they were briefly quietened by Jesus in the 14th minute, as he continued his stellar form in Europe. A poor touch by Thomasson allowed the ever-alert Saka to nip in and feed his Brazilian teammate, who produced a trademark finish into the far corner to record his 15th goal involvement in his last 15 Champions League starts.
Thomasson though atoned for his error with a goal just 11 minutes later. Gunners ‘keeper David Raya sold Takehiro Tomiyasu short and Deiver Machado was able to play the ball into the middle.
It was well behind striker Elye Wahi, but the France Under-21 international twisted his body brilliant to control with his chest and flick a volleyed pass square where Thomasson curled home a first-time finish to spark the tinder-box crowd back to life.
It turned out to be a bad 10 minutes for Arsenal as Saka sat down a few yards from the bench and gestured to his upper leg. It did not take the physio long to assess him before the decision was made to take him off only 34 minutes and he gingerly made his way down the tunnel, his record 87 consecutive Premier League appearances for the Gunners now surely under threat this weekend.
Arteta will have millions of pounds worth of talent to choose from, even if Saka does not make it, resources Lens can only dream of, having finished a point behind Paris Saint-Germain on a budget of just £53m last year.
That was in no small part thanks to the form of Brice Samba, a £4m signing from Nottingham Forest, who produced a brilliant reaction save on 66 minutes with his foot when Tomiyasu met a corner sweetly and from just 10 yards out.
The captain threw his arms up in celebration and three minutes later, they were up again when Przemyslaw Frankowski’s cross found Wahi, who tucked it home smartly first time.
The Gunners threw on the cavalry and might have equalised in an 89th-minute goalmouth scramble, but Jonathan Gradit was there to hack it away and preserve a famous win in Lens.
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