Les Verts win and get back to second place!

Context

After qualifying for the eighth round of the Coupe de France, Les Verts return to league action with the ambition of building on their victory against leaders Troyes. Currently third in the table, Saint-Étienne welcome a promoted Nancy side who are currently above the relegation zone.

Starting XI

For the return to league action, Eirik Horneland will be able to count on Joao Ferreira, Maxime Bernauer, and Augustine Boakye, who were injured last week, but will have to do without Joshua Duffus and Lucas Stassin, who remain on the sidelines. In attack, Augustine Boakye, Irvin Cardona, and Zuriko Davitashvili will make up the offensive line.

Le match

The action in the opening minutes of the match is, like the temperature, almost frozen. In the cold, neither side manages to get into position before the tenth minute. Bokangu is the first to make his mark for Lorraine with a good shot (9th) and Aïmen Moueffek responds in kind (14th). Gautier Larsonneur then has to be alert to a shot from Bouriaud and a cross from Tacalfred (18th minute), but he can let Bouabdelli's shot, which is well wide, go (25th minute). However, it is ultimately Les Verts who take the lead with a move that is played on the edge of offside. Served by Zuriko Davitashvili, Irvin Cardona lobbed Basilio after a feint (1-0, 24th). They came close to doubling their lead twice, thanks to a header and then a shot from Florian Tardieu that was deflected by the post (34th, 38th). In a superb counterattack led by Augustine Boakye, the Ghanaian passed to Zuriko Davitashvili, who missed his control slightly and was caught at the last minute (41'). The first half ended with the Greens deservedly in the lead.

Just five minutes after the restart, João Ferreira entered the box and won a penalty. Florian Tardieu stepped up to convert it (2-0, 51'). Les Verts thought they had given themselves some breathing space, but Nancy immediately pulled one back, also from the penalty spot, through Bokangu (2-1, 58') after a Saint-Étienne handball in the box. But neither this reduction in the score nor the cold enveloping Geoffroy-Guichard dampened the enthusiasm of the Forez players, such as Mahmoud Jaber, who saw his shot narrowly miss the target (60'). Les Verts thought they had won a penalty for a handball in the box (81st minute)... but no! Les Verts secured an important victory that allowed them to regain second place from Red Star. 

Coming next

Now second in Ligue 2 BKT, Saint-Étienne are turning their attention to the Coupe de France. The eighth round of the competition will showcase Loire football with the arrival of Ecotay-Moingt, a Regional 3 club and the competition's underdog, at the stadium of their dreams: Geoffroy-Guichard.

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