PLAYER RATINGS | Lille 3-0 Lens: Les Dogues embarrass rivals in comfortable Derby du Nord win | OneFootball

Ligue 1 McDonald’s, Round 28, 04/04/2026

Lille OSC slapped local rivals RC Lens with a bruising 3-0 defeat in the Derby du Nord on Saturday evening. 

The Match

The smoke from firecrackers filled the Stade Pierre-Mauroy with a thick white haze, giving the Derby du Nord a fog of war in the opening exchanges. After ten minutes, and with the away team’s white shirts blending in with the smoke, the referee called a halt to the game, setting the tone for a stop-start half. 

When the ball was in play, Lille dominated it, with Lens taking up a passive approach out of possession. Lens so often like to harry the opposition high up the pitch, but they settled into a low-to-medium block, likely wary of the pace of Lille’s mobile front line. 

Despite Lens’s intentions, Lille still found space behind Lens’s backline to thread through-balls for Matias Fernadez-Pardo and Hákon Arnar Haraldsson to run at. Robin Risser was called into action throughout the first half as he did his best to prevent Lille from taking the lead. 

A second break in the game would come into effect in the 38th minute, following chants from the Lille supporters. Six minutes later, Lille would find another sort of break as they opened the scoring. Aïssa Mandi’s ball from deep released Fernandez-Pardo down the left channel. The striker held possession long enough for reinforcements to arrive before delivering a cross on the cut-back. Haraldsson was waiting at the far post and tapped home a well-deserved lead. 

A disappointing evening would continue into the second half for Lens. They came out after the break with a higher press, but soon shot themselves in the foot. Matthieu Udol sent a fairly routine pass back to Nidal Čelik, who inexplicably left the ball, believing Risser was closer. Félix Correia slipped in to beat the onrushing goalkeeper and slid his shot home. 

It really should have been three when Correia was allowed to once again go clear off the backline, with Ganiou’s recovery sliding tackle only freeing the winger with an unfortunate bounce. However, Correia couldn’t angle his shot past Risser. Lille wouldn’t have to wait long for their third. 

Ganiou again was involved as he once more went to ground trying to deny Romain Perraud a crossing opportunity. The centre-back only managed to handle the ball, giving the referee enough cause to point to the spot. Fernandez-Pardo stepped up and slotted his shot low and to the right, sending Risser in the wrong direction. 

For Lens, it felt as if any hope that they were still in the title race had been dashed tonight in a bruising result made worse by a performance that lacked any conviction in both attack and defense. This was not the Lens that we have become used to seeing this season. While Lille are now eight games unbeaten in the league and provisionally up to third. 

Lille Player Ratings

Berke Özer, 5

Hardly tested throughout the game, did enough when he was actually called upon to keep a clean sheet. 

Romain Perraud, 6

Aïssa Mandi, 7

Nathan Ngoy, 7

Thomas Meunier, 6

Nabil Bentaleb, 7

Ayyoub Bouaddi, 7

Félix Correia, 5

A very lucky performance from a winger who has struggled since a bright start to life at Lille. He came close to gifting Lens with their only real chance of merit when his backpass went straight to Édouard. He was fortunate that Lens couldn’t do much with it. He did well to take advantage of Lens’s own error from a backpass. And he really should have made it three when he went one-on-one with Risser. 

Hákon Arnar Haraldsson, 7

Ngal’ayel Mukau, 6

Matias Fernandez-Pardo, 8

With Olivier Giroud’s lack of form and Hamza Igamane’s injury, Fernandez-Pardo is making the no. 9 role his own. An early criticism of his gameplay was that he would be brilliant until the final third and then make an inexplicable decision. However, experience is slowly ironing that out. His involvement in the first goal was brilliant, and he was ice-cold with his finish for the penalty. With rumours of Atlético Madrid being interested, it may prove hard to keep hold of him over the summer.  

Lens Player Ratings

Robin Risser, 6

The best performer for Lens, and a big reason why Lille didn’t run away with this game early on. It’s quite telling that even when he had a good performance, Lille still managed to put three past him. 

Malang Sarr, 3

Ismaëlo Ganiou, 2

From the first ten minutes, it looked as if the young centre-back was going to have a long night. He showed signs of nerves, making strange decisions when usually he is composed at the back. He recovered briefly after the first break in play before his night took a turn for the worse. Poor defending in the first goal, almost allowed the third, before eventually causing the third when he gave away the penalty. A night to forget for a player who looks to have a bright future. 

Nidal Čelik, 2

Matthieu Udol, 3

Mamadou Sangaré, 5

Adrien Thomasson, 4

Saud Abdulhamid, 4

Wesley Saïd, 3

Odsonne Édouard, 3

Lens offered very little going forward. The striker was largely isolated throughout the match and only had one moment of note when Correia passed him the ball. However, he couldn’t find the angle to shoot quickly enough, and his shot was closed down by Özer. 

Florian Thauvin, 3

GFFN | Nick Hartland