Elye Wahi played a starring role in helping French side Lens come from behind to secure a shock 2-1 victory over Arsenal in the Champions League.
In the 69th minute, the home team secured a notable victory when Wahi finished a Przemyslaw Frankowski cross with a first-time shot into the bottom left corner.
Gabriel Jesus scored for the subpar Gunners in the 14th minute off a through ball from Bukayo Saka, who later had to leave the game due to a muscular injury.
Lens tied it 11 minutes later on a fantastic finish by Adrien Thomasson that curved into the top corner.
On a night when Arsenal lost for the first time this season, England forward Saka had to leave the game after only 33 minutes, adding insult to injury before Sunday’s pivotal Premier League matchup with Manchester City.
Lens deserved the victory that put them atop Group B with four points, one more than Mikel Arteta’s club, who now sit in second place with three.
From the opening minutes, the home team posed a threat, with Kevin Danso missing the target and Thomasson coming close with a header before the offside flag was thrown.
Despite Jesus’s goal, which was the first at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis in the Champions League since 2002, the home crowd was in high spirits. The Brazilian striker has scored 13 goals and assisted on three more in his last 16 Champions League appearances.
However, Lens responded after Arsenal custodian David Raya made a poor clearance out to the left. Wahi, who joined the team in the summer after spending time in Montpellier, controlled a long ball and set up Thomasson for the goal.
Gabriel was also caught out of position after receiving a poor pass in Lens’s defensive third, allowing Salis Abdul Samed of the home team to create a scoring opportunity that was narrowly missed.
Wahi, only 20 years old, clinched it with a winning sweep. Since Kylian Mbappe, also a Frenchman, scored and assisted in a Champions League match for Paris Saint-Germain in December 2018, he is the youngest Frenchman to accomplish the feat.
The Gunners had a rough night, looking far behind the rest of the pack as their perfect record in the Champions League group stage was snapped by a confident Lens team.
Arsenal’s poor defence prevented them from creating many scoring opportunities.
Takehiro Tomiyasu of the Gunners scored off a corner kick, but Lens keeper Brice Samba made a good reaction save.
In three weeks, Arsenal will travel to Sevilla in the Champions League while Lens will host PSV.
When the dust settles, however, it will be Saka’s departure that causes the most concern.
Although he was questionable to play in the weekend’s 4-0 victory over Bournemouth, he did so and played 76 minutes before being taken off. Saka was declared fit to play, but he left the pitch in pain.
Before being taken off, Saka proved his worth once again by setting up Jesus’ goal, making him the first player in Europe’s top five leagues to accomplish the feat in a single season.
He came back for the rest of the game and sat on the bench with his teammates around the hour mark.
Arteta said he didn’t regret risking Saka, but if the defending champions City don’t show up to the Emirates on Sunday, questions will be raised about Arteta’s decision.
