Les Verts bounce back with a massive win

Context

After suffering a heavy loss in Annecy last saturday (4-0), Les Verts (4th) are on a three defeats run out of four games and know that a reaction is imperative if they want to climb on the Ligue 2 podium. Their opponents this evening, Pau (3rd), offer them the opportunity to reaffirm their collective ambition.

Starting XI

No longer suspended, Maxime Bernauer returns to Saint-Étienne's starting XI, but two other changes catch the attention. Eirik Horneland selected Joshua Duffus and Irvin Cardona on the offense.

👤 Le XI stéphanois pour #ASSEPAUFC ! 🎀 pic.twitter.com/END6gECxWj

— AS Saint-Étienne (@ASSEofficiel) October 28, 2025

Le match

Les Verts got off to a flying start! Just a few minutes after kickoff, Florian Tardieu takes a corner and Joao Ferreira scored with an acrobatic shot to give ASSE an early lead (1-0, 2th). Eirik Horneland's men are well into their game and do not stop there. Augustine Boakye finds Joshua Duffus on the edge of the box, who crosses the ball back into the middle for Irvin Cardona, leaving former Saint-Étienne player Raveyre with no chance (2-0, 11th). Fall, another former Saint-Étienne player, tries his luck with a header to reduce the deficit, but Gautier Larsonneur catches the ball (13'). Spurred on by a packed and boisterous crowd, the Forez players seek to hammer their advantage. Joshua Duffus shots from a tight angle (15th minute) and wins a corner, from which Mickaël Nadé sends in a powerful header that goes wide (16th). After Gautier Larsonneur wins a duel with Sadik (28th minute), the game heats up in the last five minutes before the break. Aïmen Moueffek wins a penalty, which Florian Tardieu converts (3-0, 40th), and Joshua Duffus first missed a one-on-one (43rd) before making up for it by sending Irvin Cardona's pass into the back of the net (4-0, 45th). In stoppage time, Fall, trained at L'Étrat, throws himself forward to open the scoring for Pau with a diving header, but he is denied once again by Gautier Larsonneur (45+2'). After a strong first half, Les Verts go into the break with a 4-goal lead.

Les Verts and Joshua Duffus start the second half with the same appetite! Served by Mahmoud Jaber, the center forward scores twice and adds a fifth goal to the scoreboard (5-0, 48'). Ben Old wants to join in the offensive festival, but his shot is blocked (53'). For Pau, Fall tests again Gautier Larsonneur, who remains unbeatable on his line (62'). Geoffroy-Guichard thinks a sixth goal is going to be celebrated when Florian Tardieu sets up Irvin Cardona, but the No. 7's powerful shot ends up in the North Stand (66'). At the start of the last quarter of an hour, Zuriko Davitashvili scores the sixth goal for Les Verts after a perfect solo effort (6-0, 78'). While Ben Old fails to hit the target from a fine pass by Lucas Stassin, Karamoko, another former Vert, brings down Zuriko Davitashvili as he is bearing down on goal. Red card (89')! The three minutes of added time do not allow the score to change. But the party is already complete !

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Une publication partagée par AS Saint-Étienne (@asseofficiel)

Coming next

Winners against Pau (6-0), Saint-Étienne responded in style against the third-placed team in the league. Next Saturday, they will travel to the Paris suburbs to take on another team in fine form at the moment: Red Star.