PSG turn the derby around as Lens rue their missed chances

Claudiu Filip struck first, and Lens had their derby crowd roaring. But Paris Saint-Germain left with the points: Clément Gerber levelled after the break, then substitute Sergio Portilla completed a 2-1 comeback in the 71st minute.

The result, on 19 August, flips the memory of the last meeting on its head. Lens had thrashed PSG 5-0 in March; PSG had answered with a 5-0 of their own in October. This time the margin was one goal, but the noise around the rivalry was every bit as sharp.

Lens were hardly short of chances. They had 17 shots, 14 on target and 12 corners, compared with PSG’s seven attempts and three corners. Cemal Öztürk had five shots for the hosts, but the breakthrough Filip supplied in the 30th minute was not enough to settle the contest. Gerber restored parity ten minutes into the second half, and Portilla—introduced at half-time—found the decisive goal from Nicolás González’s assist.

PSG had more of the ball, completing 569 passes to Lens’s 338, yet this was no comfortable procession. Lens pushed, and the gap between pressure and reward was painfully thin. Martín Monreal, now in Lens colours after eleven seasons at PSG, brought his own old-club thread to a fixture that rarely needs extra edge.

The win offers PSG a sharp answer to March’s humiliation. For Lens, it is another bruising chapter: the club are now on a run of four consecutive league defeats. The derby delivered chances, momentum swings and a late sting—but the points went south with the visitors.