Did the Stéphane B team, aligned by force of circumstances, subconsciously demobilize Racing? Still, the latter had a hard time getting into the game.
It took a severe penalty awarded to the promising Moueffek, in the duel with Kawashima, to wake up the Blues. Warning free of charge because, on the sentence, Ryad Boudebouz sent the ball well above the bar!
The young Stéphanois remained more resolute in the duels, Aïmen Moueffek, 19, continuing to sow discord with his breakthroughs. But Racing gently, not surely, put its paw on the debates, until finding the flaw at the half-hour mark.
The game was tilted to the right. That’s where the deliverance came from. More precisely Kenny Lala, whose two successive centers were right in the Forézienne defense. On the first, Ludovic Ajorque put a head for that of his friend Habib Diallo, countered. On the second, behind the rear guard, Lala found Ajorque, whose small deviation from the outside to the left and up close left Moulin no chance.
Four big chances … and two suspicious hands
At rest, nothing was certain, the stranglehold of Strasbourg not having anything to say. Saint-Étienne also resumed with a bang, before Racing created four real chances from the 57th ‘to the 61st’. Moulin was decisive in front of Ajorque then Thomasson, Caci saw his shot deflected for a corner, Djiku arrived a bit too short following a prolonged corner from the head by Sissoko.
Racing could have bitten its fingers, as Saint-Étienne remained pressing until the end. He was especially hot on two involuntary but suspicious hands of Mitrovic and then of Djiku. Each time, another part of their body had intervened beforehand. Unlike the penalty kick at the start of the match, the interpretation leaned towards Strasbourg.
Three new points therefore fall into the purses of Racing. With three wins in as many matches in 2021, the Blues climb to 13th place with 23 points, now well away from the danger zone. Thierry Laurey’s troop will have the opportunity, next Sunday, to take off even further on Dijon, relegation, by moving to the Côte d’Or. 2021 better than 2020? For Racing, and sportingly, in any case!
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