Ligue 1: Lens Keep Title Dream Alive With Dramatic Win Over Toulouse

Lens Come From behind to Beat Toulouse

2-0 down after 13 mins.  
Gboho sent off. 42 shots.  
Ganiou wins it at the death.  
Lens 3-2 Toulouse. One point off PSG.

Ganiou’s stoppage-time header completes Lens fightback to sink 10-man Toulouse...

Ismaelo Ganiou’s last-gasp winner capped Lens’ comeback from 2-0 down to beat 10-man Toulouse 3-2, as the Ligue 1 title chasers landed a psychological blow before Tuesday’s Coupe de France semi-final rematch. It was their eighth win in 10 meetings with Toulouse (D1, L1).

No side in Ligue 1 has picked up more home points than Lens this season (W13, D2), but they were 2-0 down inside 13 minutes after an extraordinary start.

Robin Risser was at fault for Toulouse’s sixth-minute opener, inexplicably letting Cristian Casseres Jr’s long-range effort squirm through his hands.

It was only a second goal of the season for the midfielder, and another unlikely scorer doubled the lead on 13 minutes. Les Violets kept a corner alive, allowing 18-year-old homegrown centre-back Seny Koumbassa to head home his first senior goal.

Les Sang et Or were handed a lifeline just four minutes later when Toulouse’s top scorer Yann Gboho saw red for a high challenge after referee Jeremie Pignard consulted the VAR monitor.

Lens grabbed the momentum, and Wesley Said headed into the side netting before Guillaume Restes pulled off a smart double save from Matthieu Udol.

Florian Sotoca thought he’d halved the deficit on the half-hour mark, but Pignard spotted a push by the skipper as he nodded home. Despite Lens’ pressure, Toulouse reached the break unscathed to lead at half-time for only the second time in their last 11 Ligue 1 games (HT: D4, L5).

The onslaught continued after the interval, and Said should have done better when he nodded over six minutes into the half, before sending his next header too close to Restes.

The goalkeeper was finally beaten in the 61st minute when substitute Allan Saint-Maximin crossed to the far post, and Saud Abdulhamid headed his second goal of the season inside the far post.

Within six minutes Lens were level, as Restes couldn’t hold Malang Sarr’s low drive from range and Adrien Thomasson - who netted in the 3-0 win in the reverse fixture - buried his third goal of the campaign.

LENS KEEP THE TITLE HOPES ALIVE THANKS TO A HUGE COMEBACK! 💊 pic.twitter.com/qJ0sGi3xCQ

— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) April 17, 2026

Lens pushed for a winner, but it looked like they’d fail to turn dominance into three points, only for Ganiou to head home from a corner with the last of their 42 total shots in stoppage time.

Les Sang et Or now sit just one point behind Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain - although the champions have two games in hand - and their dream of a first top-flight title since 1997/98 remains alive.

In the short term, this result should give them the edge when they return here on Tuesday to face Toulouse, who have won only twice in Ligue 1 since the start of February (D2, L7).