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A dramatic stoppage-time winner from Issam Jemaa secured Lens a place in the last 32 of the UEFA Cup at Sampdoria's expense.
The Tunisian substitute struck two minutes into time added-on to secure second place in Group C for Les Sang et Or, knocking the Italians out in the process and assuring Ligue 1 five representatives in the next round of the competition.
It was no more than Francis Gillot's side deserved either, after they piled on the pressure in the closing stages. And they started the brightest of the two teams as well, with Daniel Cousin spreading panic in the Sampdoria defence from a free-kick on six minutes.
Needing all three points to go through, Gillot had promised that his troops would attack right from the start, and that policy paid dividends five minutes later when Olivier Thomert intercepted Sergio Volpi's hazardous back-pass and fired high past Marcello Castellazzi.
Les Sang et Or were totally in control at that point, but the visitors slowly gained a foothold and they drew level in the 24th-minute through Francesco Flachi, who profited from a smart Emiliano Bonazzoli flick-on to steer a sumptuous shot beyond Charles Itandje with the outside of his left boot.
The goal stunned the hosts, and they began to drop back until Cousin tested Castellazzi with a first-time effort following a long pass from Thomert. Despite that, it was Walter Novellino's charges who almost grabbed the half-time lead as a Flachi strike was deflected on to a post and trickled ominously across the line without straying over.
Lens knew the task ahead of them after the break, but they struggled to break down their opponents' well-organised defence in the opening stages. Eric Carrière cracked a wild effort over, yet the first sign that the hosts could steal the result did not come until the 87th minute, when Cousin had a point-blank shot blocked by Castellazzi.
His attempt would not have mattered anyway since the referee had blown for a foul, but there was nothing wrong with Jemaa's crucial late intervention as he ran onto Cousin's pass and angled his strike low into the net to spark wild scenes of celebration in the Stade Félix-Bollaert.
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