​Florian Thauvin (C) won the 2018 World Cup with France (Francois LO PRESTI)Lens captain Florian Thauvin scored two penalties as Lens thumped Auxerre 5-2 in their first game of the French Ligue 1 season on Saturday.Thauvin converted from the spot either side of the break as the northerners continued their good form from last season when they finished second in the table behind Paris Saint-Germain.Last weekend, German coach Dino Toppmoeller won his first competitive game in charge of Lens, beating PSG in the French Champions Trophy.”The most important thing was to win, and to start the season well,” defender Matthieu Udol told reporters.”It was also important to back up last week’s result.”Auxerre had defender Christ Massoko sent off in the first half for a foul on Lens attacker Abdallah Sima.Thauvin, a World Cup winner in 2018, opened the scoring after just 12 minutes after Belgian midfielder Arthur Piedfort handled the ball in the hosts’ box.Thauvin’s low finish sent the packed Stade Bollaert crowd wild before the visitors were down a man as Massoko saw red 10 minutes before the interval.Lens continued to dominate in the sun after the break as new boy Franjo Ivanovic opened his account for Les Sang et Or on 49 minutes.The Croatia international fed Sima on the edge of the box before his attack partner returned the pass to find the 22-year-old, who smoothly finished past Mamadou Diop.Five minutes later, Thauvin turned the provider, setting up winger Saud Abdulhamid before Danny Namaso cut the deficit just before the hour mark with a penalty of his own.Defender Ismael Ganiou re-established a three-goal cushion with 24 minutes left, then Lamine Sy claimed a consolation for Auxerre before Thauvin slotted his second penalty two minutes from time.Later on Saturday, newly-promoted Le Mans, backed by a consortium including Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and tennis star Novak Djokovic, drew 2-2 with Brest in their first top-flight game since 2010.Troyes, who came up as Ligue 2 champions, were held to a goalless draw by Paris FC in Liam Rosenior’s first league game in charge of the side from the capital.Lyon won 2-0 at Toulouse despite making sweeping changes to their line-up with next week’s Champions League play-off second leg with Fenerbahce in mind.Champions Paris Saint-Germain begin their tilt at a record-extending 15th French top-flight title at Rennes in the pick of Sunday’s matches.On Friday, Algeria forward Amine Gouiri scored twice as Marseille beat Strasbourg 4-0 in the opening game of the campaign.Substitute Keyliane Abdallah and midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg made sure of the three points for Bruno Genesio’s side late on to extend Marseille’s unbeaten league run over the Alsatians stretching back to 1997.iwd/mw