ASNL Relegated Again After Missing Two Penalties: Disaster Scenario at Marcel-Picot with 19,000 Spectators in Sold-Out Stadium

For ASNL, it was an evening that ended with a huge risk of falling to N2 or even N3 next season… losing pro status… It was nevertheless an atmosphere worthy of Ligue 1 at the start, a fantastic atmosphere for a National match likely to sublimate a team or to inhibit it. It is rather the second option, unfortunately, which accompanied the ASNL in a hesitant, approximate start to the game, even if it claimed in vain for a penalty for a strike from Tayot countered by a visitor’s arm (3rd).

A team too tense

For its part, this team from Puy, despite being relegated, played as if it were a match with very high stakes for them, with aggression, energy and a few sequences which undermined the Nancy defense, like this attempt by Lembezat captured by Sourzac after a bad back pass from Nangis (8th). A missile from Duponchelle also grazed the bar (11th), before a gag goal narrowly avoided on a raise from Sourzac blocked by Ndiaye (21st). Uninspired until then, the thistle training increased the volume a little in the middle of the first period, with a header from Bussmann released by the Puy goalkeeper, Millieras, on a free kick from Mouazan (22nd).

The little playmaker from Nancy also tried his luck from a distance (25th), before a percussion from El Aynaoui who went for the penalty. “Péno” pulled by Sakho and pushed back by Millieras (38th)! A huge blow to the head of the still stunned Nancy, a few seconds later, when defending. In the wake of this missed penalty, Le Puy took the opportunity to open the scoring through Lembezat (39th), plunging the 19,000 spectators of Marcel-Picot into a disaster scenario. With, to top it off, unfavorable results for ASNL on the other National stadiums at the break.

The double penalty, twice

It looked like hell up close, but the worst was yet to come. The Nancy pushed on the return from the locker room but they fell, each time, on an impassable Millieras, giving the impression of being a lookalike of Fabien Barthez with his bald head (parries on two heads of Sakho 51st and 52nd, tap on a shot from Cissé 58′). The visitor goal still committed a foul on Robinet who entered the game, synonymous with a second penalty for Nancy. But the ASNL missed it again, this time by Mouazan who found the post (71st). In the process, there was the same double penalty as in the first period, with a new goal from Puy signed Ben Fredj (72nd).

It was too much for the ultras from Nancy who expressed their anger by throwing projectiles, including two seats torn off, and lighting firecrackers. In the 75th, the referee suddenly decided to interrupt the meeting.

But the Nancy nightmare resumed ten minutes later with, first, a glimmer of hope, of miracle, when Robinet took a corner from Mouazan (77th). We even believed in the equalizer, shortly after, but Bussmann messed up his shot (80th). The disorderly push of the ASNL finally gave nothing better, facing players from Le Puy curiously in starved mode to maintain their advantage.

On arrival, this defeat is perhaps the most tragic in the whole history of the club since the Nancy, 13th in the standings, no longer have their destiny in hand for the maintenance in National one day from the end, before going to Bourg next Friday. If the ASNL went down, it would be its disappearance in the professional world. It would be a monumental disaster for its loyal audience but, given what its foreign shareholders and Gauthier Ganaye have done with it in two and a half years, it would ultimately make sense. We simply come to think that the ASNL must absolutely change everything in its operation, even if it means going back to N2 or N3. How sad…