After a stirring penalty shootout victory over Lyon in the Coupe de France in midweek, Lens were looking to continue building momentum after enduring a two-match winless slump in Ligue 1.
And though they started positively here, chances weren’t flowing until the 15-minute mark, when Jonathan Fischer produced a brilliant point-blank save to keep out former Metz wing-back Matthieu Udol’s header.
Abdallah Sima was at the heart of the action for the hosts, seeing an audacious bicycle kick sail harmlessly wide before his low effort at the end of a slick move deflected wide of the near post.
Captain Adrien Thomasson then blazed over on the volley, before Sima dragged a similar effort wide of the target from 10 yards after Metz had repeatedly failed to clear their lines.
The continuing one-way traffic meant a Lens opener felt inevitable, and just two minutes after Odsonne Edouard had been denied by Fischer, their patience was rewarded on the stroke of half-time.
Thomasson’s cross reached Sima via a deflection, and he superbly steered it to the back post, where Saud Abdulhamid was waiting to hammer home his first Ligue 1 strike of the season.
After a desperate first half showing in which they registered just a single shot, Metz were hoping for better in the second period.
However, just 17 seconds after the restart, their deficit was doubled, and the contest was put realistically beyond them.
Lens worked the ball well from kick-off down the right, with Thomasson laying off for Florian Thauvin to pick out the bottom corner and score his fourth goal in five matches.
More pain was on the way for the visitors, who conceded a third just six minutes later through half-time substitute Amadou Haidara, who slotted through Fischer’s legs after a classy one-two with Udol to net his first-ever Ligue 1 goal.
Metz offered very little in response, though came close to a late consolation when Alpha Toure’s effort trickled wide.
A comfortable afternoon’s work for Metz delivered a sixth clean-sheet victory in their last eight home league matches, and gives them a solid chance of becoming the first side in over two decades to overturn a four-point deficit with 10 games remaining to win Ligue 1.
Metz, meanwhile, blanked for the fifth time in their last six league outings, with this result stretching their winless run in the competition to 13 matches, keeping them a whopping 11 points adrift of definite safety.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Adrien Thomasson (Lens)
