Ligue 2 – 4th day: Saint-Étienne in the middle of a nightmare against Le Havre (0-6)

Saint-Étienne, the most unreal match. But on arrival, and it is relentless, a new sporting rout. Forced to revive after a winless start to the season, and with a handicap of points to make up for, the Greens on the contrary hit rock bottom during the 4th day of Ligue 2 against Le Havre (0-6), Saturday in a Geoffroy -Guichard empty, sanction obliges.

This is the first time in its history that ASSE has lost a match by six goals in its lair. Sangante (51st), Alioui (56th), Lekhal (64th), Operi (80th, 84th), Kitala (90th) scored these six historic goals.

So judge the nightmare of the men of Laurent Batlles: they finished the match at eight, after suffering the expulsions of Anthony Briançon (31st), Mathieu Cafaro (37th) and Étienne Green (66th). A rarity in a high level encounter. But an insurmountable handicap over time to hope for a suitable sporting result.

If they lasted a time playing nine, 17 minutes to be exact, the Greens then sank in the second half by conceding six goals. Because this meeting had become an unequal match after the expulsion of too many, that of Green, guilty of a dangerous exit outside his surface in the 66th minute. A useless gesture to compensate for a defense mounted too high and gaining speed on a counter.

Four reds in total

What happened for Saint-Étienne to finish at eight? Anthony Briançon opened the ball at the half-hour mark by taking two yellows in quick succession, including a second for a blow in the face of Yann Kitala. The first yellow had been the consequence of a sole during a duel with Amir Richardson. Mr. Letexier did not hesitate for a second to sanction the captain of the Greens on the two actions.

In the 37th minute, there was still talk of an extra-sporting gesture. Exasperated by the marking of Oualid El Hajjam, Mathieu Cafaro pushed his opponent back by pressing on the back of the neck. Not really a blow, not really violence, but a gesture of irritation all the same. The former Rémois took direct red on this action, which drove the ASSE side crazy.

Precisely, the staff of ASSE was caught red-handed. Emmanuel Da Costa, assistant to Laurent Batlles, also received a red card a few seconds later, for watching the sequence of Cafaro’s red card on his … tablet! “Using the tablet to challenge an arbitration decision, it’s red..“, explained Mr. Letexier to the culprit.

And yes, in fact, Saint-Étienne took four red cards on Saturday. “We watched the video, because we have the video feedback, of course! Everyone has video feedback too “, complained the punished to the fourth referee. But what the Stéphanois did not know at that time was that they were going to fall even lower in the second half with the direct red for Green, author of a suicidal exit on Kitala.Then the festival of goals.

A dramatic situation in the standings

For Saint-Étienne, this defeat is an accounting disaster. Last with -1 point, the Stéphanois have still not managed to move into the positive at the accounting level, which would erase the consequences of the events that occurred during the play-off against AJ Auxerre at the end of last season.

In four days, they could only make two draws at best against Quevilly-Rouen (2-2) and Nîmes (1-1). Above all, in four outings, Saint-Etienne has already conceded 11 goals. This 2022-2023 season is off to a nightmarish start. Remember that there will be four relegations at the end of the season. If it does not react soon, ASSE therefore risks risking its survival.