Evian Thonon Gaillard 2 : 1 Lens - First win for Evian

Posted Thursday, September 25, 2014 by PA

Evian finally grabbed their first Ligue 1 win of the season with a 2-1 triumph over newly-promoted Lens at the Parc des Sports on Wednesday.

Daniel Wass fired the hosts into the lead after 10 minutes, with Jonathan Mensah bundling home to make it 2-0 at half-time.

Yoann Touzghar pulled one back for the visitors after the break with a sweetly struck volley, but Lens were unable to prevent embattled Evian boss Pascal Dupraz claiming a much-needed three points.

Dupraz's side remain bottom of the table, but at least they now have a first win to build upon.

The hosts had lost three successive matches going into the midweek clash, with Dupraz forced to justify his position at the club when speaking to the press beforehand.

Mensah and Cedric Barbosa both missed good chances early on, without testing Lens keeper Remy Riou, as the visitors were penned in.

But the pressure finally told in the 10th minute, with a piece of individual brilliance from Wass breaking the deadlock.

The Danish international skipped past Jean-Philippe Gbamin on the left, broke into the box and unleashed a venomous right-footed drive past Riou to notch his third goal of the season.

Alharbi El-Jadeyaoui made a mess of a gilt-edged opportunity to equalise for Lens just before the half-hour mark, with Mensah's harrying eventually putting him off to alleviate the danger.

Ghanaian international Mensah then made him pay shortly after as his deflected strike left Riou stranded.

The 31-year-old centre-back met Cedric Barbosa's free-kick, but when his goal-bound header was blocked he reacted quickest and enjoyed a considerable slice of good fortune as his deflected effort found the net.

Going into the game Lens had picked up four points from their last two trips away from home and they showed some signs of life when Touzghar pulled one back in the 55th minute.

The 27-year-old made the most of a nervousness in Evian's backline to hit an acrobatic volley beyond Jesper Hansen.

With that goal creating uncertainty in the hosts, Touzghar almost turned provider for Deme N'Diaye but the Senegal international was thwarted by the on-rushing Hansen.

Clarck N'Sikulu almost put the game to bed with a curled strike that went inches wide of the post, but it mattered little as N'Diaye could only find the side-netting late on as the visitors ran out of time.