Lens' hopes of Ligue 1 title race up in smoke after Nice draw

PSG's previous draw against Lorient revived Lens's challenge for the Ligue 1 crown, and facing struggling Nice offered a prime chance to ramp up the pressure on the league leaders. In the first half, however, the home side matched them blow for blow and troubled Les Sang et Or considerably.

Nice's clearest opening arrived from Juma Bah, who nodded freely only for Robin Risser to pull off an outstanding stop, yet they still could not score for the ninth game running.

As the period wore on, Lens dominated proceedings and created opportunities on two occasions via Mamadou Sangare and another through Odsonne Edouard.

Just after the interval, Mohamed-Ali Cho blazed over from a promising position, one of the sparse chances in the early stages of the second half.

Suddenly, Lens went ahead with Allan Saint-Maximin netting after a superb pass from Adrien Thomasson, the forward evading Diouf before slotting home unchallenged from beyond the box.

This strike seemed to boost Lens's momentum, with Florian Thauvin nearly doubling their advantage via a bending shot from afar that clipped the bar.

Yet, in the final 10 minutes or so, Lens dropped to 10 players after Saud Abdulhamid received a red card for fouling Sofiane Diop just outside the box when he was the final defender.

The subsequent set-piece saw Diop's attempt bounce kindly for Ali Abdi, who fired past Risser at point-blank range. This equaliser arrived unexpectedly, and although Les Aiglons gained belief, they fell short of a full comeback.

Lens now trail PSG by six points at the top, and despite an upcoming fixture against the title holders, they require additional defeats for the leaders plus a significant erosion of their goal difference lead to stand a chance of lifting the trophy.

For Nice, the point secures a six-point buffer from the relegation playoff position, though they have one more game under their belt than Auxerre and two fixtures remaining.