A few weeks ago, Lens pushed PSG to the brink in the Coupe de France Round of 32, only to fall short in a dramatic penalty shootout.
This time, Les Sang et Or weathered early pressure from Les Parisiens with disciplined defending, despite the absence of key center-back Abdukodir Khusanov.
Their resilience paid off as M’Bala Nzola broke the deadlock, pouncing on a loose ball from Goduine Koyalipou after a corner and drilling it into the bottom-right corner through Gianluigi Donnarumma’s hands. Lens – unbeaten in their last 12 league matches when scoring first – had Luis Enrique’s men chasing shadows heading into the interval.
Unchanged at the break, PSG pushed to preserve their unbeaten Ligue 1 record. But Lens nearly doubled their lead when Nzola’s brilliant solo effort found the net, only for the would-be goal to be ruled out for offside.
The disallowed strike proved pivotal, as PSG capitalised moments later via Bradley Barcola’s cut inside from the right flank, delivering a precise pass to Fabian Ruiz, who slotted a low shot into the bottom left corner to restore parity on the hour mark.
Both sides looked dangerously on the front foot, with Lens in particular pushing for a second goal to restore their advantage.
Jonathan Gradit came painfully close, forcing Donnarumma into a sixth save of the evening with a thunderous effort from the edge of the area before Barcola silenced the home crowd at the other end.
Joao Neves’ clever pass found the Frenchman lurking inside the area, allowing him to send a piledriver into the roof of the net past a helpless Herve Koffi that proved to be the winner four minutes from full-time.
As a result, PSG go 10 points clear of Marseille atop the table, albeit having played a game more.
Meanwhile, Will Still’s outfit suffer yet another winless outing against sides beginning the round in the top half, with the narrow defeat pushing them just outside the final European spot held by Lyon.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Bradley Barcola (PSG)