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Aruna Dindane scored and was sent off as Lens beat ten-man Le Mans 2-0 at home to climb up to second place in the standings.
Les Sang et Or are in hot form at the moment and were it not for a long series of draws earlier in the season, they could realistically be challenging Lyon for the title. As it is, they lie 12 points behind the champions, but a Champions' League place has to be a realistic goal when the action resumes after the winter break.
With this being their last match of the year, though, Francis Gillot's side were more focused on giving their fanatical fans a win to remember them by, and the Stade Félix-Bollaert faithful were likewise excited to get their first look at loan striker Pierre-Alain Frau. The former Lyon man had an early chance to make an impact as well, but his cross for Aruna Dindane was a little too wayward.
The northerners soon brought their physical strength to bear on the match, yet a hard pitch and snowy conditions made life difficult for both teams, with the spectacle suffering as a result. Chances were rare, control was poor and the fans began whistling as Les Sang et Or failed to make their obvious dominance count. Their intervention seemed to have the desired effect, though, and Adama Coulibaly had the supporters on their feet again with a header from Benoît Assou-Ekotto's corner that looked set to nestle in the back of the net until it passed inches wide of the post.
Buoyed by that effort, Lens pressed forward in an attempt to break the deadlock and they did just that when Aruna Dindane smashed a shot past Yoann Pelé on 30 minutes. Frau served Daniel Cousin, the Gabonese forward strode into the area and he laid the ball off for his Ivory Coast colleague to finish in emphatic style. Celebrating his fifth strike of the season by lifting his shirt, Dindane was then promptly shown a yellow card – despite having the exact same one underneath.
Frédéric Hantz's visitors had trouble coping with the bustling aggression of their hosts, but they at last had a glimpse at goal when Tulio De Melo connected a header with Koffi Romaric's corner and sent the ball narrowly wide with goalkeeper Charles Itandje beaten. Their greatest chance of pulling themselves back into the game was to be handed to them on a plate, though, when Dindane was shown a red card for a nasty tackle from behind on Laurent Bonnart.
It was a moment of stupidity from the goalscorer, and the visitors immediately sensed their opportunity, with striker Edorisi Kowel Ekhousuehi sent on in place of defender Yannick Fischer. There was a new purpose to the Manceaux's play, but they threw away their advantage two minutes after Hantz's tactical switch when De Melo was also sent for an early shower for a second bookable challenge.
Ismaël Bangoura still had a chance to equalise when he fired wide from six metres out, yet Le Mans were suffering and there was little surprise when Seydou Keita set up Cousin to chip in his eighth goal of the campaign in the final minute.
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