PARIS (France) (AFP) – Teenage substitute Mezian Mesloub Soares gave Lens a 1-0 win over Nantes in Ligue 1 on Friday to give his side direct qualification for next season's Champions League while relegating Nantes to the second tier.
The result also keeps the Ligue 1 title race alive with Lens the only team who can still pip Paris Saint-Germain to the title.
After a frantic and eventful first 79 minutes, the 16-year-old substitute picked up a loose ball in the box with his first touch of the ball and fired home with his second to break the deadlock on his Ligue 1 debut.
Lens are now guaranteed a top-two finish in Ligue 1: they are seven points clear of third-placed Lyon with both teams having two games left.
Third place also earns a place in the Champions League but in the play-off third round.
Lens, whose budget is not even one-tenth of Champions League finalists PSG, are still to play the Parisians who lead them by three points and have a game in hand.
Following the win, the sell out 38,000 crowd at Lens' cauldron-like Stade Bollaert stayed behind for an extravagant gala with the players heralded one at a time on a spotlit centre-circle with fireworks flaming.
While stopping PSG remains an outside chance, their season ends with the French Cup final against Nice on May 22.
Back in 1998 Lens won the French top flight by goal difference, and were the surprise package as they racked up the points in this early season to go into the winter break in top spot.
Lens had three goals ruled out for off-side or handball Friday as Nantes held a marauding and physical Lens at bay largely thanks to 'keeper Anthony Lopes.
French champions in 2001, Nantes are now guaranteed to finish in the bottom two and will be relegated from Ligue 1 for the third time since that title win.
Club legend Vahid Halilhodzic took over as the third coach of the season in March with a daunting task of saving the side and cut a sad but proud figure as he left the pitch stoney-faced.
PSG play Brest at home on Sunday but the Lens win has prevented them from wrapping up a fifth straight title this weekend.
Luis Enrique's side will face Arsenal in the Champions League final on May 30 after a 1-1 second-leg draw away to Bayern Munich on Wednesday saw them beat the Germans 6-5 on aggregate in their semi-final.