A two-faced meeting at the Bollaert-Delelis stadium.
Lens received Stade Rennais on Saturday evening and the big offensive intentions of the Northerners in the second half ended up paying off (2-1).
From the kick-off, the game is hotly contested with intense physical duels in midfield.
It was not until the 22nd minute that Fofana fired the first strike of the game.
The Rennais respond tit for tat through the young Désiré Doué but his shot is on Samba who easily grabs the ball.
On the Rennes side, Doku is the only one to bring a little madness to the image of a beautiful breakthrough which is stopped just before the penalty area by a joint intervention by Danso and Abdul Samed.
In the axis, Martin Terrier is very lonely and only touched a dozen balls in the first period.
The two teams return to the locker room back to back and Lens sees its place as dolphin seriously threatened if the score does not evolve in its favor.
Tireless Seko Fofana
The second half started on a completely different note.
After only 30 seconds, Frankowski inherits a long cross and transmits in first intention for Sotoca.
The latter delivers a center-shot that Openda almost recovers by tackling at the far post.
The Lensois returned to the attack and stumbled three times in quick succession against the Lensoise defense and Alemdar.
The Rennes are particularly under pressure and Seko Fofana brushes a superb cross from the right which finds the header of Médina at the far post but the ball only touches the cage of Alemdar.
The influence of the Lensois captain ends up materializing on the scoreboard in the 66th minute.
The inexhaustible number 8 inherits a ball on the left side and provokes Doué with leg crossings before transplanting in the axis from where he triggers a powerful strike from the right which ends up in the small opposite net of Alemdar .
The Bollaert stadium exults and is not at the end of its surprises since Openda doubles the lead five minutes later with a pure center-forward goal on a poorly negotiated exit from Alemdar.
Laborde kept Rennes' hopes alive
Rennes regained their colors since Gaëtan Laborde came into play a few minutes before the Lensois goals.
The Rennais gain momentum in the moments that follow and get great chances to come back to score.
First with Laborde himself who solicits Samba forced to throw himself on the ground to counter the strike of the nearby Rennes attacker.
Five minutes later, the latter is ignored by Flavien Tait who prefers to shoot than send him a side pass to finish in the empty goal.
In the aftermath, Sulemana unleashes an overpowered shot which hits the crossbar.
Gaëtan Laborde finds the solution at the very start of added time with a goal that he gets on his own after a superb recovery punctuated by a heavy strike which comes to lodge under the bar of Samba.
The Rennais will continue to push to snatch the draw but the Lensois will hold on.
"What made us able to win today is the state of mind", underlined Loïs Openda at the microphone of Canal+ at the final whistle.
A state of mind which allows the Northerners to temporarily occupy the chair of championship leader while waiting for the reception of Monaco at the Parc des Princes on Sunday evening.
The Rennais, meanwhile, slip into the second half of the standings.