Worn by the young Gouiri, Nice beats Lens without shining

Five years. Five years that RC Lens have been waiting for this moment, that of their return to Ligue 1 after their relegation in 2014-2015. Second in Ligue 2 last season, the Sang & Or are finally back in the French elite, and already better armed than during their last visit. In any case, we can think so after their great performance this Sunday in Nice. Led by a Gael Kakuta Scorer and already very inspired, the Artésiens posed a lot of problems for OGC Nice, 5th last year and which will play in the Europa League, but without taking the upper hand. Opposite, the Nice people relied on their young nugget, Amine Gouiri, arrived from Lyon this summer for 7 million euros and author of a double.

Amine Gouiri takes care of her beginnings

Under the Nice sun, it was the promoted Lensois who had taken things in hand from the start of the match, logically opening the scoring on a penalty (a little less logical) transformed by Gaël Kakuta (7^e, 0-1). But opposite, even uninspired, OGC Nice remains a team cut out for Europe, and therefore of quality. If the men of Patrick Vieira lacked ideas, rhythm and inspiration, Amine Gouiri did not lack talent. On two flashes of genius, the player trained at OL, but on whom Rudi Garcia did not count, changed the game on his own, from the top of his 20 years.

After the good start of the Lensois match, Gouiri was first responsible for getting his people back on track, on the first strike in Nice of the match. And what a strike! On a well-conducted collective action, the young striker from Nice inherited the ball at the entrance to the area, slightly to the left. Result: he deposited the leather in the opposite window of a rolled up of the right foot, which hit the bar just before entering. Sumptuous (18^e, 1-1). Not content with scoring his first professional goal in Ligue 1, Gouiri put the cover back in the second half, so his people were still struggling to worry Jean-Louis Leca, the lensois porter. Same man, and almost the same gesture: on the left of the area, Gouiri transplanted on his right foot and wound up on the opposite side, this time in the small net (2-1, 75^e). He thus becomes the first Nice striker to score a double for his debut, for a certain Mario Balotelli in 2016. Sufficient for Nice, infuriating for Lens.

Kakuta, almost winning return

For their return, the Lensois have not been unworthy, quite the contrary. Author of a very good start to the match, full of control, RC Lens was rewarded with a penalty for a not obvious hand of Dante (7^e), perfectly transformed by Gaël Kakuta after intervention of the VAR (10^e, 1-1). Not only a goalscorer, Kakuta carried the Sang & Or against OGC Nice. Trained in Lens, but left for Chelsea at the age of 16, the former great hope of French football wore the colors of his training club for the first time, at the age of 29 and after having traveled well (Chelsea, Fulham, Bolton, Dijon, Vitesse Arnhem, Lazio Rome, Rayo Vallecano, Sevilla FC, Hebei Fortune, La Coruna, Amiens…). Better late than never therefore for Gaël Kakuta who seems determined to make up for lost time with the RCL. And his successful performance in Nice confirmed it.

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Ligue 1 (Day 1): relive the victory of OGC Nice against Lens (2-1)

Positioned in number ten behind Sotoca and Ganago, Kakuta shone on all his ball catches, his accelerations and his passes. Interesting in his construction of the game, RC Lens may have regrets given his performance. And in particular Ganago, who missed an unmissable goal on a cross from Sotoca, while the club led 1 to 0 (18^e). At the start of the second half, Florian Sotoca also lacked clarity on a two against three that he could have negotiated better. Join the game, Simon Banza also had a 2-1 ball, but came up against a big Benitez after pivoting in full surface (68^e). Many opportunities, and therefore regrets for RC Lens, but also reasons to hope for the return to Ligue 1 of the Artesian club. And hope, it will take to face the next obstacle: Paris Saint-Germain, Saturday night at Bollaert.

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