Ligue 1 – matchday 20
Caught in the relegation zone, Lorient and Dijon did not close the match and delivered a high-end match (3-2). And it is the Hake that emerged victorious from the battle …
The lesson: Long live the struggle for maintenance!
Lorient-Dijon. Late match. A sad Wednesday in January. At first glance, the end of matchday 20 did not seem very appealing. We have known many knife games between relegation, where nobody wants to discover themselves for fear of being wrong. Well, at Moustoir, it was the opposite! Bretons and Burgundians have twisted their necks a priori. In the fight for relegation, the two squads played, attacked and created a very unexpected scenario.
From the start of the match, Moussa Konaté set the pace by appearing before a passive hinge Lorient but his deviation brushed the crossbar (6th). Pushed, the Merlus did not allow themselves to be counted. Quentin Boisgard crossed his shot too much on a good ball scored by Terem Moffi full axis (8th). Pelissier’s men raised the cursor even higher by pressing down on their evening opponent. Didier Ndong, well placed under Boisgard’s cover, missed his pass back to Racioppi. The Swiss goalkeeper relaunched a complete axis on Lemoine who did not benefit from the offer (30th). In the continuity, the young Yoann Étienne fell down the left flank and crossed with force. The ball was returned to full axis by Ecuélé Manga. Big mistake. Trevoh chalobah He lit the fuse and opened the scoring (1-0, 31). Well on their bombs, the lorientais still got loose after a new recovery error by Ecuélé Manga and a wound above Wissa (38º). Dijon seemed to have his head stuck in the bag, but so often, the culprit turns behind the halo. Sacha Boey put the necessary aggression to steal a ball in the area and found … Bruno Ecuélé Manga for fox equalization of surfaces (1-1, 39). The herds of Linares smothered the Hake in the game, and in a sublime action, they went to the front. Mama Baldé deflected from the chest for Konaté who sent Frédéric Sammaritano perfectly deep. The former Auxerrois raised his head and found Baldé full of iron (1-2, 42).
The Lorientai could very well have bowed their heads and lamented this cruel scenario. But Christophe Pélissier gave his team soul at half-time … by not changing anything. More self-confident, more offensive, the Bretons gave everything to get back on the mark and not let go. Yoanne Wissa, very active, sent an emotion to Racioppi (54th). Dijon was retreating and no longer had the lucidity to fight. So Lorient was finally forcing her fate. In a nice displacement from Wissa, Delaplace focused heavily to Ter Moffi which relieved the orange crowd (2-2, 58). Both teams were doing their best not to draw physically. The Burgundians made the mistake of not attacking more and settling for this (good) draw on the outside. But football is cruel and leaves no chance for the unmotivated … At the last free kick chance, Andreaw Gravillon, very lonely, he deflected the leather of his head. Incomprehensibly, Anthony Racioppi caught the ball on the ground but tangled the brushes and caused the sphere to fall behind the line. Mr. Dechepy’s watch vibrated and the orange jerseys could rejoice (3-2, 90 + 6º). A resounding success given the scenario that allows the Merlus to join its opponent in the afternoon in qualifying.
The winner: Pelissier, still alive
He didn’t panic. Never. Even with the 1-2 at halftime, the Lorient manager did not move his eleven back from the locker room and the entry into play of Enzo Le Fée changed the game. The young Merlus midfielder flawlessly brushed past the last-chance free kick for Gravillon’s saving goal. Under pressure, the former Luzenac still has the house and with one game down, Lorient can still believe it.
The loser: Racioppi, the blow
JT
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