Fresh from booking their spot in the Coupe de France final on Tuesday, Lens knew another positive performance was needed in Brest to keep their Ligue 1 title hopes alive.
Abdallah Sima wasted an early chance for the visitors, and Pierre Sage’s men were soon punished in the seventh minute when Daouda Guindo powered a superb 25-yard strike into the bottom corner for his first goal of the campaign
Having emerged victorious from 14 of their previous 15 league matches this term against sides currently in the bottom half of the table, Lens went in pursuit of a swift response, as Adrien Thomasson fired wide from the edge of the box.
However, it was the hosts who doubled their lead before the half-hour mark, with Guindo turning provider this time, delivering an inch-perfect cross for Lucas Tousart to head home a rare goal.
Sima spurned another glorious opportunity for Les Sang et Or, failing to convert a close-range header, and grateful for that reprieve, Brest duly added a third on the stroke of half time.
Ludovic Ajorque picked out Éric Junior Dina Ebimbe on the edge of the box, and the Eintracht Frankfurt loanee swept a clinical finish beyond Robin Risser to give the Pirates a commanding advantage.
Shell-shocked by his side’s first-half display, Sage made four changes in the early stages of the second period, including the introduction of Florian Thauvin.
The Frenchman had an immediate impact for the visitors, capitalising on a mistake from Soumaïla Coulibaly to emphatically find the net.
Buoyed by that lifeline, Lens scored a second just four minutes later, as Saud Abdulhamid’s cross was expertly volleyed home by Sima to set up a fascinating final 25 minutes.
Les Sang et Or continued to commit numbers forward in pursuit of an unlikely equaliser, but Grégoire Coudert stood firm in the hosts’ goal to deny Mamadou Sangaré, while Allan Saint-Maximin and Odsonne Édouard fired agonisingly against the woodwork.
Despite all those missed chances, a leveller finally arrived in the fourth minute of stoppage time when Saint-Maximin picked up a pass from Sangaré and unleashed a terrific curled effort into the far corner to snatch a dramatic point at the death.
The draw also keeps Sage’s side within three points of leaders PSG, albeit having played a game more.