Keyliane Abdallah Off the Bench to Earn Marseille a 2-1 Win at Lens

Marseille beat Lens 2-1 at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis on Sunday, and a substitute had the final say. Keyliane Abdallah came on and scored at the back post, the far side of the goal from where the ball came in, to put Marseille back in front. The win lifted them to fourth in Ligue 1, the top division of French football.

Marseille took the lead early in the second half, or rather it was the 82nd minute. No, the timing matters: Amine Gouiri gave Marseille the lead after 82 seconds, tapping in from about a yard out. The goal came after a mix-up between Jonathan Gradit and Samson Baidoo, two defenders who had been sorting out the ball at the wrong moment.

Lens hit back through Florian Thauvin, who scored with a close-range header. It was a painful moment for Marseille fans in particular, because Thauvin spent his earlier career at the Marseille club. He came close to a fitting return, and then Abdallah had the last word.

Marseille are now a very different side from the one that started the autumn. Manager Bruno Génésio's team have won five league games in a row, climbing out of the relegation zone, the bottom group of teams who drop down a division, and into the Champions League places. That is Europe's biggest club competition, and qualifying for it brings big money and bigger crowds. The week before this match, Marseille also won away at Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League, the second tier of European club football.

For Lens, the mood is much darker. The club's Champions League campaign included a 9-1 home defeat to Como, the heaviest home loss in that competition's history. Manager Yannick Cahuzac called it a "humiliation". He had only taken charge in September, stepping up from his role as assistant after Dino Toppmöller was replaced following six games in charge. Lens president Joseph Oughourlian reportedly wrote "never again" inside the dressing room after that night.

Supporters have also made their feelings known. Lens fans unfurled a banner reading "You are a disgrace to 120 years of history", a message aimed at a club that has a long past and a loyal following in northern France. Thauvin, who scored for Lens here, had also been left out of Zinedine Zidane's latest France squad.

There was another twist for Abdallah. He had been sent to Marseille's reserve team after a poor performance against Le Havre, before getting back into the first-team picture. This time he was the one who made the difference, arriving from the bench to score the goal that decided the match.

For neutral fans, the game shows how quickly things can turn in football. Two clubs went into the match heading in very different directions. One came away with the points and a lift in confidence, and the other went home with a banner and a lot of questions to answer.