Buoyed by their Trophee des Champions success, Lens supporters had another reason to celebrate in the 12th minute when captain Florian Thauvin dispatched a composed one-step spot-kick after Auxerre’s record signing Arthur Piedfort was punished for a needless handball.
Lens' position of strength grew significantly when another Auxerre debutant, Christ Makosso, was given his marching orders for making a cynical foul on Abdallah Sima just as the attacker looked set to race inside the box.
Two costly mistakes from summer additions ultimately left former Lens boss Will Still with an unenviable half-time team talk in his first competitive game in charge of Les Ajaistes.
Whatever Still said to his charges, it could not stop the hosts from surging into a commanding lead with two quickfire goals within 10 minutes of the restart. First, Franjo Ivanovic neatly exchanged possession with Sima before holding off his marker to slot his low strike out of Diop’s reach.
Not content with his first Ligue 1 strike, the Benfica loanee then played an important role in Lens’ third, splitting the Auxerre defence with a well-weighted pass to find Thauvin, who stood the ball up for Saud Abdulhamid to head home a goal that was awarded after initially being chalked off for offside.
After effectively sealing all three points, complacency crept into the home side’s performance as Auxerre netted twice in eight minutes of thrilling play that produced three goals.
Danny Namaso pulled a goal back from the penalty spot after drawing a trip in the box, shortly before Ismaelo Ganiou prodded the ball in after being teed up by substitute Michal Skoras.
It was then the turn for an Auxerre substitute to grab an assist as Rayan Mandengue squared a precise ball for Lamine Sy to slide home.
However, any respectability to the scoreline was lost when Thauvin dispatched his second and the game’s third penalty, drilling his retake into the bottom corner after Diop jumped off his line while saving the initial effort.
Thauvin’s brace rounded off an emphatic victory that saw Les Sang et Or net five goals or more in a H2H league game for the first time in 21 years.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Florian Thauvin (RC Lens)