Lens starts league campaign with 3-2 loss at Brest. Strasbourg, Rennes and Monaco win

By: Jerome Pugmire, The Associated Press Posted: 1:13 PM CDT Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023 Last Modified: 4:29 PM CDT Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023

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PARIS (AP) — After an impressive second-place finish in the French league last season, Lens opened the new campaign by losing 3-2 at Brest after leading 2-0 on Sunday.

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PARIS (AP) — After an impressive second-place finish in the French league last season, Lens opened the new campaign by losing 3-2 at Brest after leading 2-0 on Sunday.

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This article was published 13/08/2023 (1147 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PARIS (AP) — After an impressive second-place finish in the French league last season, Lens opened the new campaign by losing 3-2 at Brest after leading 2-0 on Sunday.

The northern side was in command thanks to goals from forward Florian Sotoca and defender Deiver Machado, but Brest replied with a penalty from Romain Del Castillo just before halftime.

After defender Kenny Lala equalized in the 56th, Del Castillo scored with another penalty in the 87th.

Lens finished only one point behind champion Paris Saint-Germain last season, but sold club top scorer Lois Openda to German club Leipzig and midfield captain Seko Fofana to Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr.

Strasbourg beat Lyon 2-1 in the late game to give former France great Patrick Vieira a perfect start as coach of the Alsace-based side.

Midfielder Jean-Ricner Bellegarde opened the scoring in the 63rd and then set up forward Lebo Mothiba to make it 2-0 in the 75th.

Defender Nicolas Tagliafico pulled a goal back for Lyon in the 88th to set up a frantic finish.

Striker Alexandre Lacazette, whose 27 league goals last season were second only to top scorer Kylian Mbappe, hit the post late in the first half for Lyon.

Lyon is coached by Laurent Blanc, Vieira’s teammate when Les Bleus won the 1998 World Cup.

Elsewhere, striker Wissam Ben Yedder scored twice as Monaco won 4-2 at Clermont and Danish defender Rasmus Nicolaisen grabbed a stoppage-time winner for Toulouse in a 2-1 win at Nantes.

Winger Ibrahim Salah came off the bench to score two late goals as Rennes routed promoted Metz 5-1 at home. Forwards Arnaud Kalimuendo, Amine Gouiri and Jeremy Doku had all scored for Rennes, before Salah replaced Doku in the 84th.

Nigerian striker Akor Adams netted both goals for Montpellier in a 2-2 home draw with promoted Le Havre, which equalized in stoppage time through winger Samuel Grandsir.

PSG drew 0-0 at home to Lorient on Saturday with Mbappe watching from the stands and Neymar also absent.

Neymar has reportedly agreed a two-year deal to join Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal, while Mbappe has returned to training with the first team following a transfer standoff.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/Soccer