Match report
Lens rout ten-man Auxerre 5-2 as Thauvin scores twice from the spot
Lens opened their Ligue 1 campaign with a 5-2 demolition of Auxerre at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis, a Regular Season - 1 fixture that swung decisively in the first half. Florian Thauvin converted a 12th-minute penalty to put the hosts ahead, and the contest turned further when Christ Makosso was sent off for Auxerre in the 35th minute, leaving Christophe Pelissier's side to play the remainder a man short.
AI-assisted match report written from official match data.
The second half began ruthlessly for Lens. Franjo Ivanović, assisted by Abdallah Sima, doubled the lead within four minutes of the restart, and Saud Abdulhamid added a third soon after, teed up by Thauvin. Daniel Namaso pulled one back for Auxerre from the penalty spot in the 61st minute, but Pierre-Ismaëlo Ganiou, set up by Michał Skóraś, restored the four-goal cushion five minutes later.
Lamine Sy's goal, assisted by R. Mandengue, briefly gave Auxerre hope at 4-2, but Thauvin sealed the rout in the 88th minute with his second penalty of the afternoon, assisted by his own earlier involvement, completing the scoring at 5-2. Dino Toppmoller's Lens dominated territory and chances throughout despite finishing with less of the ball.
Franjo Ivanović scored the second goal of the rout and finished with an 8.2 rating, the highest of any player on the pitch.
Lens racked up an xG of 1.92 to Auxerre's 0.17, reflecting how one-sided the chance creation was over the 90 minutes.
Lens beat Auxerre 5–2 (half-time 1–0).
Lens met Auxerre in the Ligue 1 (Regular Season - 1). Kick-off was Saturday, 22 August 2026, 15:15 UTC at Stade Bollaert-Delelis. Referee: Mathieu Vernice.
Key moments
- 12' Goal (penalty): Florian Thauvin — 1–0 · Watch Florian Thauvin's goal video (12')
- 35' Red card: Christ Makosso
- 49' Goal: Franjo Ivanović (assist: Abdallah Sima) — 2–0 · Watch Franjo Ivanović's goal video (49')
- 54' Goal: Saud Abdulhamid (assist: Florian Thauvin) — 3–0 · Watch Saud Abdulhamid's goal video (54')
- 61' Goal (penalty): Daniel Namaso — 3–1 · Watch Daniel Namaso's goal video (61')
- 66' Goal: Pierre-Ismaëlo Ganiou (assist: Michał Skóraś) — 4–1 · Watch Pierre-Ismaëlo Ganiou's goal video (66')
- 69' Goal: Lamine Sy (assist: Rayan Mandengue) — 4–2 · Watch Lamine Sy's goal video (69')
- 88' Goal (penalty): Florian Thauvin (assist: Florian Thauvin) — 5–2 · Watch Florian Thauvin's goal video (88')
Starting line-ups
Lens (3-4-2-1)
Auxerre (4-3-3)
Sirius · Why these numbers
Before kick-off Sirius gave Lens 65%, the draw 22%, Auxerre 13%. It finished Lens 5–2 Auxerre.
Lens' rating gap decides it — Lens are clearly the stronger side on our strength rating, and that is most of Lens' 65%. The draw at 22% is lifted by the early-season fade in home wins.
Why Lens at 65%?
Lens sit 227 points higher on our strength rating — 1927 to 1700. Sides with a 200–300-point rating edge at home won 67.0% of 5,944 such games. The 300 most similar past games finished 66–20–14.
Why only 65%?
Both sides are inside their first six league games — home wins land softer this early in the season, so this trims Lens's column. Across 10,641 opening-stretch games since 2010, home sides won 42.8% where the rating map expected 44.9%, with draws up 2.1 — negative in every season since 2018.
Why is the draw only 22%?
With a rating gap this size the draw starts at 19.6%. These teams' recent games average 2.8 goals — a typical goals environment. Games in that environment drew 24.6% of 24,834. Early-season fixtures add 2.1 points to the draw.
What did we measure but not count?
Lens average 10 points more possession, but the rating gap here is 227 points. Our control receipt only exists between near-equals — there it moved results; across a class gap we could not measure a separate style edge, so style scores 0 here. Auxerre scored +0.56 goals per game beyond chance-quality lately — hot streaks like that have cooled off. Measured across 2,779 games at this rating gap, hot-finishing sides won 42.1% vs 42.9% class-expected — inside the noise band, so it scores 0 until the receipt clears its evidence bar. The other measured facts on this page scored nothing either.
Sirius probabilities, frozen at kick-off. Analysis, not betting advice. How Sirius is doing this season · Full breakdown, evidence cards and squad news in the Match Insights tab
About this match
On this page: the Lens vs Auxerre final score and result, goal highlights and video clips of every goal, who scored, starting lineups, match stats and the full match report from this Ligue 1 fixture.
- Who scored and when — a goal-by-goal timeline of the match.
- Match stats — possession, shots, expected goals (xG), corners and cards.
- Starting lineups and player ratings for both teams.
- Head-to-head record and recent form for both sides.
- Watch Florian Thauvin's goal against Auxerre (12').
- Watch Franjo Ivanović's goal against Auxerre (49').
- Watch Saud Abdulhamid's goal against Auxerre (54').
- Watch Daniel Namaso's goal against Lens (61').
- Watch Pierre-Ismaëlo Ganiou's goal against Auxerre (66').
- Watch Lamine Sy's goal against Lens (69').
- Watch Florian Thauvin's goal against Auxerre (88').
Watch the goals: goal highlights and video clips of every goal from Lens 5–2 Auxerre. Explore more on the Lens and Auxerre team pages or the Ligue 1 page.
Quick answers
›What was the final score of Lens vs Auxerre?
Lens beat Auxerre 5–2 (half-time 1–0).
›Who scored in Lens vs Auxerre?
Florian Thauvin (12') (penalty) for Lens; Franjo Ivanović (49') for Lens; Saud Abdulhamid (54') for Lens; Daniel Namaso (61') (penalty) for Auxerre; Pierre-Ismaëlo Ganiou (66') for Lens; Lamine Sy (69') for Auxerre; Florian Thauvin (88') (penalty) for Lens.
›Where can I watch Lens vs Auxerre highlights?
Goal highlights and video clips from Lens 5–2 Auxerre are on this page — open the videos tab to watch every goal.
›What is the head-to-head record between Lens and Auxerre?
Lens and Auxerre have met 10 times — 7 wins for Lens, 1 win for Auxerre and 2 draws.