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A hat-trick from in-form striker Daniel Cousin inspired Lens to a much-needed UEFA Cup win as they saw off Halmstad 5-0 at the Stade Félix-Bollaert.
The Gabon-born ace netted the winner in Les Sang et Or's Ligue 1 victory over Toulouse at the weekend – bringing their run of seven draws to an end – but that was nothing compared to tonight's magnificent display.
And the warning signs were there for the Swedish visitors as early as the sixth minute, when the 28-year-old sent a diving header against the post from fit-again Olivier Thomert's cross.
It proved to be no more a brief respite for Halmstad, however, as Cousin fired the hosts ahead 10 minutes later, striking the ball home with his left foot after Thomert cleverly headed Yohan Demont's cross into his path.
It was a deserved breakthrough and Lens went two goals up soon after, with Cousin the scorer once again. Eric Carrière led an excellent counter-attack, freed Jérôme Léroy on the right and the former Marseille midfielder whipped in an excellent ball for his teammate to steer past goalkeeper Conny Johansson with a deft header.
Duran Djuric cracked a free-kick against the post at the other end, but it was Hamlstad's only chance in the first half and they were lucky not to be trailing 3-0 at the interval when a goalbound shot from Cousin was deflected wide.
He was not to be denied his hat-trick, though, and rounded it off in spectacular circumstances a minute after half-time. Collecting a poor clearance from Johansson, the former Le Mans striker rounded a defender as if he wasn't there and sent a thunderous shot high into the net to put the result beyond ay doubt.
Johansson had better luck keeping out a Seydou Keita volley on 70 minutes, but the nightmare was about to continue as Les Sang et Or went four up when substitute Issam Jemaa got a faint touch to a cross-shot from Patrick Barul.
Cousin was brought off to a standing ovation 15 minutes from time, yet Lens did not take their foot off the gas and even managed to add a fifth through Yoann Lachor, who headed in a corner in stoppage time.
It was the perfect response to the 4-0 thrashing Lens suffered away to Steaua Bucharest a fortnight ago, but in truth the hardest tests lie ahead - with Sampdoria and Hertha Berlin also vying for the top three places in Group C.
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