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Vieira : 'A match we had to win'

Patrick Vieira was happy to have won the first league game of the season even if his side had difficulties against Lens (2-1).

Coach, what's your analysis of this first win of the season (2-1)?
There was quite a lot missing in terms of our play, we didn't manage to produce what we wanted to and our opponents caused us problems. Lens made things tougher for us, made it difficult to play our game and create chances, but there were some positives, notably the players' attitude in difficult periods. Today, we got a bit lucky. We can do better, but it's important to win as it will give us confidence.

How do you explain your team's difficulties?
Lens work well defensively, they stopped us playing and caused us problems with their pressing. We lacked rhythm and were slow in playing the ball out and in our decision-making. We must give credit to our opponents. We didn't have a lot of possession today, but it's a match we had to win.

Amine Gouiri scored twice. What did you think of his display?
Amine confirmed what he's shown since he arrived here. He's ambitious, wants to improve and gives himself the means to succeed. Today, his work paid off. He's not a winger who's going to stay wide. He likes to get on the ball and play between the lines. His relationship with Kasper [Dolberg] is important for us, even if it didn't work today. They speak the same 'language'. We'll be more dangerous in coming games.

What did you think of Alexis Claude-Maurice, who started on the other side of the attack?
He likes playing in the middle, but today we needed him on the flank. He made sacrifices in tracking back and put himself at the service of the team. He had a good game.