Beautiful poster between two former Ligue 1 players, this Metz – Saint-Étienne looked more like a match of fear. The Garnets, thirteenth at kick-off, received the Greens in the nineteenth, but only four points behind. A draw would therefore not have satisfied anyone, and this accounting reality ended up on the lawn of Saint-Symphorien, this Monday. After a festival of opportunities on both sides, Metz was more effective and won (3-2).
Disjointed, even illegible, this part can still be segmented. For the first twenty minutes, Laszlo Bölöni’s men dominated the impact. Preferred to Ibrahima Niane, Cheick Sabaly headed the ball at the penalty spot, to finish just above the crossbar (6th). Quite logically, ASSE ended up cracking at the end of this first highlight. On a corner shot from the right by Fali Candé, Jean-Philippe Krasso unscrewed his clearance with his left foot, directly under the bar of Matthieu Dreyer (1-0, 18th).
Krasso’s Rebound, Udol’s Mastery
Upset, the Ivorian striker of the Greens went on the attack. First jostled in a duel in midfield, the top scorer from Saint-Etienne this season in Ligue 2 (8 goals) got up to send a jewel of the ball in depth to Ibrahima Wadji, who easily beat Alexandre Oukidja (1- 1, 24e).
But, as at the start of the game, the Greens retreated, suffering new Messin waves. A number from Sabaly in the area (37th), another from Matthieu Udol (38th) and, finally, the punishment. Served by the inevitable Sabaly, Ablie Jallow took over with a header from the penalty spot, before colliding with Dreyer. Fortunately for FC Metz, Kévin N’Doram remained at the penalty spot to conclude (2-1, 39th).
Yet dominant in the second half (60% possession of the ball, eleven shots to three), the Stéphanois struggled for a long time to come back. Wadji, already close to deceiving Oukidja (49th), had his goal disallowed (69th) for a foul on Candé. Benjamin Bouchouari (53rd, 76th) also failed in the face of sometimes miraculous returns from the opposing defense. Matthieu Udol is responsible for punishing, once again. After an overflow on the left side, the captain mystified Dreyer with a superb strike from the right (3-1, 60th). It was not until the 90th + 4 that Mickaël Nadé reduced the gap, with a good sequence in the area (3-2).
In the standings, Metz breathes after three days without a win (one draw, two losses), climbing to eleventh place, four points ahead of the red zone, and seven ahead of ASSE, nineteenth. The Greens are ahead of Niort, the red lantern, only on goal difference. Laurent Batlles and his men have won only one of their last seven matches in all competitions (one win, one draw, five defeats).