Man City loanee Wilson-Esbrand takes Reims up to fourth in Ligue 1

The 20-year-old London-born left-back, on as a substitute, curled a superb strike into the far corner from wide on the left flank to break the deadlock with just six minutes left. His goal came just after Reims coach Will Still had been shown a red card and sent to the stand, and his side then held on for the victory.

They move above Lille into fourth place before the rest of the weekend's games, and are just one point behind Paris Saint-Germain in third. PSG visit Brest on Sunday when a win will lift them back to within a point of leaders Nice, who beat Clermont 1-0 away on Friday.

Wilson-Esbrand joined Reims on a season-long loan in July and started the first three games of the campaign but has only been used off the bench since then. He made his first-team debut for City aged 18 in a League Cup tie against Wycombe Wanderers in September 2021, and has made two further appearances, in last season's Champions League against FC Copenhagen and Sevilla.

After that he spent the second half of last season on loan at Coventry City. Elsewhere on Saturday, last season's runners-up Lens continued their revival with a crushing 4-0 home win against Nantes.

Florian Sotoca scored two penalties either side of a superb goal by Argentinian defender Facundo Medina, with Neil El Aynaoui sealing the win late on. Lens are now unbeaten in eight games in all competitions after starting the campaign by taking just one point from their first five league games.

That run has included a 2-1 home win over Arsenal in the Champions League.

 

October 28, 2023