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Lens claimed top spot in Ligue 1 on goal-difference despite being held to a goalless draw by struggling Monaco at the Stade Louis II on Sunday.
The two sides could not have had more varied preparation for this match. Lens warmed up for the trip south with a 7-0 whitewash of Auxerre before putting another three past Romanian club Cluj midweek to qualify for the first round of the UEFA Cup.
By contrast, Monaco entered the UEFA Cup first round draw by losing. The principality side was eliminated from the Champions’ League by Spanish side Real Betis just two days after losing to a solitary goal at Bordeaux.
To make matters worse for Didier Deschamps, he was without first-choice strikers Ernesto Chevanton (thigh) and Emmanuel Adebayor (back) while ‘keeper Flavio Roma (groin)was also missing.
Form, however, can be a funny thing and the sweltering conditions on the Côte d’Azur made for a tightly contested first-half in which the hitherto free-scoring visitors failed to create a single occasion and in which Monaco should have gone to the break a goal to the good.
Lens ‘keeper Charles Itandje made an incredible one-handed reflex save to deny a point-blank Sébastien Squillaci header before Toifilou Maoulida missed everything with the goal gaping on the stroke of half-time.
Despite - or perhaps as a result of - being whistled to the change-rooms by the home supporters, Monaco began the second-half in more determined fashion.
Just after the restart Lucas Bernardi’s long-range effort found Maoulida totally unmarked on the penalty spot, however the former Rennes player blasted over with only Itandje to beat.
The home side continued to look dangerous going forward through the irrepressible Maicon, but the visitors showed their defensive game – majestically marshalled by Hilton – can carry the baton when the likes of Jérôme Leroy and Aruna Dindane are having an off day further up the field.
The draw sees Lens move level with Paris Saint-Germain, Lyon and Bordeaux with 10 points, but the club, celebrating its centenary year, occupies the number one spot thanks to a superior goal-difference. Monaco scrape into the top half of the table with seven points.
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