Les Verts win against Troyes

Context

Victorious against Carouge (3-1) in their first pre-season test last Saturday, Les Verts spent the week on the lawns of L'Étrat, after having spent the previous week training at Le Chambon-sur-Lignon. The second match of their preseason pits them against one of their future league rivals: ESTAC, 10th in last season's Ligue 2 BKT.

Starting XI(s)

As he had done last week against Carouge, Eirik Horneland fielded an initial XI designed to give match minutes to all the players involved since the start of the season. With a central duo of Maxime Bernaeur and Beres Owusu, and Dennis Appiah and Maedine Makhloufi pairing in the wings, the defense is half experience, half experience. In midfield, Igor Miladinovic finds his place between Florian Tardieu and Mahmoud Jaber, as does Augustine Boakye in attack, where Irvin Cardona and Ben Old are also to be found.

👥 Le XI stéphanois pour la première période !#ASSEESTAC, c’est dans 40 minutes et en live sur notre chaîne YouTube ! pic.twitter.com/8OytmtGJ9q

— AS Saint-Étienne (@ASSEofficiel) July 12, 2025

After halftime break, Eirik Horneland continued to distribute playing time. The coach replaced Gautier Larsonneur by Brice Maubleu and changed half of his defense with Mickaël Nadé and Lassana Traoré coming on, while Beres Owusu and Maedine Makhloufi gave up their places. He also invited Lamine Fomba to join the midfield in place of Igor Miladinovic, while Nadir El Jamali replaced Augustine Boakye.

Game scenarioold

Although Les Verts got off to a good start, the players of Troyes soon showed that they had something to answer for, with an attempt saved by Gautier Larsonneur (9th) and a shot blocked by Augustine Boakye (15th). Mahmoud Jaber was the first of the Stéphanois to find himself in position to score (18th), but he was thwarted, while Diop was not far off the first goal after a fine team move by ESTAC (21st). Stung, the Forez players quickly hit back with a low shot from Irvin Cardona (22nd) and then a tense cross from Maedine Makhloufi (23rd), but Le Maître got the better of them. Gautier Larsonneur then had to parry another Diop shot (35th), and on the next quick attack Ben Old came up against the defender (35th). ESTAC players went close twice more, but “Larso” was alert (39th, 40th). The last chance of the first half fell to Les Verts, when Irvin Cardona slipped the ball through but Augustine Boakye was unable to get enough on it to catch Le Maître off guard (41st). Both teams went into the locker room on the same scoreline.

It was in the second half that the outcome of the match was decided thanks to the Greens' greater control. Irvin Cardona (50th), Lamine Fomba (53rd) and Lassana Traoré (55th) showed their desire to turn the match in their favor. ESTAC was more subdued, although Chavalerin (55th) came close to completing a fine team move, and Titi's low shot gave the Greens a cold sweat, even though he was probably offside (60th). But the Ligériens never relinquished their hold, as illustrated by Lamine Fomba, who collected the ball in the final third of the pitch, set up Ben Old for the opening goal (ASSE 1-0 Troyes, 64th). Maxime Bernauer pulled off a stunning save to deny Murcy (66th), but ASSE controlled possession and looked more dangerous, even if they were unable to add to the scoreline. In the final minutes, Ben Old came up against the keeper (84th) and, despite laying siege to Troyes' box Nadir El Jamali saw his shot deflected wide (90th), before Brice Maubleu saved Diakité's final shot of the game (90+1st). Les Verts Greens thus won by a narrow margin against Troyes in their second warm-up match.

Next up

After this second successful pre-season meeting, Florian Tardieu's team-mates will get back to work in Le Forez before leaving on Wednesday for Aix-les-Bains, where they will take part in their second training camp, featuring two tests. On Friday July 18 and 25, ASSE will face Servette Genève and Paris FC.

Joueur associé

11

Ben
Old

Nouvelle-Zélande