Lens 1-9 Como: Douvikas hat-trick as visitors run riot

Como produced one of the most extraordinary results of the Champions League league phase, winning 9-1 at Lens on matchday 4. Anastasios Douvikas scored a hat-trick, Nico Paz, Lucas da Cunha, Marc-Oliver Kempf, Mattia Liberali, Martin Baturina and teenage substitute Matteo Papaccioli also found the net, and Ruben Aguilar's volley was all Lens could offer in reply.

Match facts

• Result: Lens 1-9 Como (half-time 0-3)
• Competition: UEFA Champions League, league stage, matchday 4
• Venue: Stade Bollaert-Delelis, Lens
• Scorers: Lens – Aguilar 65'; Como – Douvikas 7', 32', 57', Paz 40', da Cunha 47', Kempf 53', Liberali 62', Baturina 69', Papaccioli 90+1'
• Assists: Lens – Thauvin (65'); Como – Perrone (7'), Valle (32'), Douvikas (40'), Paz (47', 57'), Milla (53'), Ramón (62'), Liberali (69', 90+1')
• Red cards: None

How the match unfolded

The tone was set inside seven minutes. Como worked a corner short, Máximo Perrone headed it back across goal, and Douvikas turned the ball in from close range.

Lens thought they had a route back into the game in the 15th minute when the referee awarded a penalty after Thauvin's cross struck Maxence Caqueret. A lengthy review followed, the on-field decision was overturned, and the reprieve did not last.

Douvikas doubled the lead on 32 minutes, finishing from close range after Nico Paz had driven forward and Álex Valle had volleyed the ball back across the face of goal. Eight minutes later Paz made it three, taking Douvikas's pass, spotting the goalkeeper slightly out of position and beating him with a powerful strike. He marked the goal by holding up a shirt bearing a photograph of Jesús de Miguel, the Tenerife forward who died aged 30 on Tuesday, a day after a collision with Andorra goalkeeper Jesús Owono left him in cardiac arrest.

Whatever Fàbregas said at half-time, his players did not ease off. Play had barely restarted when Paz threaded a pass into the channel and da Cunha cut inside from the right to drill a first-time left-footed shot beyond the goalkeeper for 4-0 in the 47th minute.

The fifth arrived on 53 minutes from a well-worked corner. Luis Milla delivered from the left and Kempf twisted to meet it with a header that gave the goalkeeper no chance. Nine minutes later Jacobo Ramón's long ball sent Liberali clear on the counter and the substitute, on since the 58th minute, beat the goalkeeper at his near post.

Lens finally had something to show for the night on 65 minutes. Thauvin's corner dropped to the far post, where Aguilar adjusted his feet and volleyed cleanly into the corner, and for a few minutes the game looked like a contest again.

It did not last. Baturina restored the eight-goal margin on 69 minutes, playing a one-two with Liberali and going through to finish. Deep into stoppage time Liberali slid a through ball into the box and Papaccioli, on for Douvikas just after the hour, converted with his left foot. The goal was reviewed for offside, then awarded.

What does the result mean in the table?

Como climb to fourth in the 36-team league phase on nine points from four matches, with three wins and one defeat, and a goal difference of plus thirteen after scoring nineteen goals. That puts them inside the top eight places that lead straight to the last 16, above Barcelona, Aston Villa and Manchester City on goal difference.

Lens stay 33rd with three points from four games and a goal difference of minus twelve, nine places outside the top 24 that reaches the play-off round with four matches still to play. This was a heavy blow to their hopes of reaching the knockout stage.

For Como, the result follows their 4-1 win over Manchester United on matchday 3 and confirms a remarkable start to their Champions League campaign. Lens, who beat Paris FC 2-1 in Ligue 1 earlier this season, must regroup quickly. Full standings and reports are on the Champions League page.

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