Ligue 1, 29th day – Saint-Etienne and Troyes leave in a draw (1-1)

To the mind. Little in verve on Friday evening, the Stéphanois snatched the point from a draw against Troyes (1-1), a direct competitor for maintenance. Picked up cold by a goal from Lebo Mothiba, they found their way to the net through Ryad Boudebouz from the penalty spot. Pascal Dupraz’s men were hoping for better and missed the opportunity to overtake their evening opponents, before a perilous trip to the Vélodrome in two weeks.

Boudebouz-Khazri, stirring duo

This was not the result expected by the squad of Forez, but it will be satisfied with this unit which is added to the 26 previously harvested. The Greens raised their heads after an insipid first period, which saw ESTAC open the scoring very early in the game. Lacking inspiration and quickly deprived of Falaye Sacko, out through injury (11th), they gave in on a fine movement on the left side initiated by Xavier Chevalerin and concluded by Lebo Mothiba (0-1, 18th).

A goal that rewarded the activity of the Trojans, who had been dangerous a few seconds earlier. Iké Ugbo had seen Paul Bernardoni take out his shot from the right (17th). At the foot of the wall, the Greens relied on Ryad Boudebouz and Wahbi Khazri. The first provoked a horizontal from Gauthier Gallon (40th), the second tested him on his line on a very well-shot full-axis free kick (45th + 6).

contentious situations

Chevalerin, untenable on his left side, gave some cold sweats to the Saint-Etienne supporters. The latter have continued to give voice and their support has finally been rewarded. After two contentious situations in the opposing area, Saint-Etienne obtained a penalty. Erik Palmer-Brown’s foul on Mahdi Camara was perhaps the least obvious, but Romain Lissorgue confirmed the sentence after viewing the foul. Infallible in the exercise in Ligue 1 this season (3/3), the Greens equalized thanks to Ryad Boudebouz, who found the skylight (1-1, 67th).

Troyes like Saint-Etienne had the ammunition to take the lead. Denis Bouanga crossed his shot too much in front of Gallon (70th), while Yoann Touzghar forced Bernardoni to parry with a spontaneous volley (77th). A rather logical distribution of points, therefore. The players of Bruno Irles chain a fourth match without losses and retain their 15th place (29 pts) while waiting for the meetings of Clermont (16th, 28 pts) and Lorient (27 pts). Saint-Etienne, still the barrage, misses the opportunity to overtake their evening opponent but returns to Lorient before the international break and a trip to Marseille in two weeks.