MHSC 0-1 ASSE: Stéphane Ruffier made his presence known at La Mosson

THE KEY OF THE GAME

SO-LI-DA-RI-TY! That’s the word that best describes the performance delivered by the Verts this Friday evening at La Mosson. The Verts spent a good part of the match on the defensive, which they did well. Thanks to the great teamwork of Rémy Cabella, Kevin Monnet-Paquet and Romain Hamouma at the edge of the goal box, that allowed Hamouma to light up this evening in Montpellier (10), the Verts took the advantage at the beginning of the encounter.

Un match historique pour Stéphane #Ruffier ! 👏 #MHSCASSE

1⃣0⃣0⃣ matches sans prendre de but en @Ligue1Conforama sous le maillot vert pic.twitter.com/uldFgfb07x

— AS Saint-Etienne (@ASSEofficiel) 27 avril 2018

One man incarnated the solidity of the Verts: Stéphane Ruffier. The ASSE goalie realized his 100th clean sheet in Ligue 1 wearing the jersey of the Verts. He blocked several shots on net and stopped a penalty kick made by Sio just before the break. Montpellier pushed, crossed the ball many times and made many shots on net. But Stéphane Ruffier and the Stéphanois turned back everything. And when everyone seemed spent, the goalpost blocked Skhiri’s shot (84). Determined and combative, the Verts held out and finished their 13th match without defeat (8 victories, 5 ties), allowing them to advance to 5th place in the championship, which would enable them to qualify for the Europa League.

THE GOAL

10e (0-1): inside the goalie area, Rémy Cabella exchanges the ball with Kevin Monnet-Paquet and manages to give an assist to Romain Hamouma. The number 21 jsut have to push the ball the opponent net.

#MHSCASSE 0-1 10e : BUUUUUT ! Les supporters stéphanois arrivent dans la Mosson au moment où Romain #Hamouma ouvre le score après une belle incursion de @RemyCabella !!! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/RobdbErSLX

— AS Saint-Etienne (@ASSEofficiel) 27 avril 2018

THE ANALYSIS OF THE COACH

During his postgame press conference, Jean-Louis Gasset underlined his team’s defensive abilities and the exceptional performance of his goalie, Stéphane Ruffier. The Verts’ coach stated that Montpellier put a lot of pressure on his team and prevented them from imposing their game style.

🎙️ #Gasset : "C'est une victoire laborieuse car @MontpellierHSC nous a empêchés de jouer notre football par un pressing tout terrain. Mais on a très, très bien défendu et on s'est appuyé sur des valeurs de combativité et de solidarité." pic.twitter.com/CUaGbnosV4

— AS Saint-Etienne (@ASSEofficiel) 27 avril 2018

Ligue 1 Conforama
Week 35
La Mosson Stadium

MHSC 0–1 ASSE
Half-time : 0-1

Referee : Léonard

Goal : Hamouma (10) for ASSE

Yellow cards : Ruffier (40), Ntep (90) for ASSE

MHSC: Lecomte – Mukiélé (then Sambia, 71), Mendes, Hilton, Congré, Cozza (then Dolly, 55) – Lasne, Piriz, Skhiri – Sio, Ninga (then Mbenza, 75). Coach: Michel Der Zakarian.

ASSE: Ruffier – Debuchy, Théophile-Catherine, Subotic, Gabriel Silva – Selnæs, M'Vila – Hamouma (then Ntep, 74), Cabella (then Diousse, 88), Monnet-Paquet – Beric (then Bamba, 56). Coach: Jean-Louis Gasset.