Ligue 1 Recap: Lorient’s African stars upstage Lens

Promoted to France’s top flight Ligue 1 for the 2025-26 season, FC Lorient’s jump into the top half of the table over the weekend came on the back of excellent performances from the club’s African stars.

𝑳’𝒐𝒖𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒖 𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒆 des Merlus contre le RC Lens 🙌🧡
7️⃣ 𝑺𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒊𝒆̀𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒕 de la saison en Ligue 1 pour Bamba Dieng 👊 pic.twitter.com/U0Z4HJ8RS4

— FC LORIENT 🐟 (@FCLorient) March 16, 2026

Bamba Dieng is tied for the most goals among Ligue 1 players in 2026 after the Senegalese’s 7th goal in the calendar year began the scoring in a 2-1 victory over upstarts RC Lens. The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations champion turned in a rebound from close range to continue his resurgence after a difficult couple of years.

Odsonne Édouard responded for Lens, second on the table, early in the second half. But Benin national team forward Tosin Aiyegun provided the match winner courtesy of Burkina Faso fullback Arsène Kouassi.

Talbi and Lorient’s defense secure valuable Ligue 1 victory

Also of note is the outstanding performance of Tunisia center back Montassar Talbi, who won ten of his fifteen duels and produced thirteen clearances to play a massive role in the victory. Lens attempted a shocking 58 crosses and could only connect on 14, largely thanks to the defensive efforts of Talbi.

Talbi and Kouassi were named in L’Équipe’s Team of the Week for their efforts alongside Lorient goalkeeper Yann Mvogo and coach Olivier Pantaloni.

Lorient et Lille en nombre dans l’équipe type de la 26e journée de Ligue 1

➡️ https://t.co/hOrkKMayX0 pic.twitter.com/o8AzyhmRYu

— L’Équipe (@lequipe) March 16, 2026

Elsewhere over the weekend, Amine Gouiri scored the only goal in Olympique Marseille’s 1-0 victory over Auxerre on Friday. The Algerian came off the bench to strike late, fiving recently hired OM coach and former Senegalese international Habib Beye his second consecutive victory in charge.

And once again, special mention must be made to another team that is impressing after being promoted to Ligue 1 this season. Paris FC have allowed only two goals in their last four matches after Sunday’s 0-0 draw with Strasbourg. Senegalese central defender Mamadou Mbow had eight clearances and was rewarded with his own place in the Team of the Week published by L’Équipe.