Florian Thauvin scored two penalties as Lens secured an emphatic 5-2 victory over Auxerre at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis.
The home side broke the deadlock in the 12th minute when Thauvin dispatched a composed left-footed penalty into the bottom corner.
Auxerre struggled to carve out clear openings in response, with defender Christ Makosso entering the referee's notebook during a combative first half.
Lens doubled their advantage four minutes after the restart as forward Franjo Ivanovic latched onto a through ball from Abdallah Sima to finish smartly.
The hosts extended their cushion in the 54th minute when Saud Abdulhamid headed in from Thauvin's delivery, with a VAR check upholding the strike.
Auxerre pulled a goal back just after the hour mark when Danny Namaso stepped up to convert a penalty.
Lens quickly snuffed out any comeback hopes in the 66th minute as Pierre Ganiou found the net to make it 4-1.
Lamine Sy reduced the deficit again for the visitors three minutes later, capping an end-to-end period of play.
Thauvin sealed the victory in the 88th minute by converting his second spot-kick of the match to cap a seven-goal thriller.
