Ligue 2. Bordeaux misses the step, Niort creates the feat (3-1)

The Girondins, 3rd in the championship, did not emerge victorious from this duel of extremes. Thanks to this 3-1, the Chamois Niortais are no longer at the bottom of the standings.

This is the surprise of this 23^e day of the Ligue 2 championship. The Chamois Niortais, bottom of the standings, won on Saturday evening at the René-Gaillard stadium against Girondins de Bordeaux, uphill contenders.

Nineteen points separating the two clubs, the Bordelais approached this duel of extremes, particularly confident. But it was the Niortais who opened the scoring in the 28th minute of play with a goal from Moataz Zemzemi.

The Girondins react in stride. Following a high pressing, Aliou Badji eliminates his defender, then fixes Mathieu Michel and returns to equality (30^e).

The joy of David Guion’s men is short-lived. Technically dominated, they lost all their duels and it is very logical that the Deux-Sévriens regain the advantage in additional time. At the reception of a good cross, Bryan Passi places a powerful header and replaces the Chamois in the lead (45 + 3).

In the second half, Niort, recently coached by Oumar Tchomogo, bends, but does not break. Bordeaux lacks realism and ends up conceding a third goal at the end of the game on a lobe from Junior Olaitan (90 + 4). The cup is full for the Bordeaux supporters who boo their players. A striking contrast with the joy and communion between the Chamois and their public. Final score: 3-1.

Conclusion: a feat for Niort which has two victories for the first time this season and regrets for Bordeaux which misses a golden opportunity to come back on the first two in the standings. The Chamois are now in 18th place in the championship, two points behind Dijon and Rodez, the first two relegated.

“In this first half, we are really very very very disappointed with the performance of our team. We got through it. We were eaten up in the duels, the Niortais were really above it. And this goal, just before half-time, it really hurts, because (…) we must never concede the corner and then the return, it’s really… We lacked aggressiveness. and aggressiveness, the first half was very bad. We knew very well that Niort was going to play with a lot of heart and character, and Boutoba hurt us a lot. In the second half, we took the things in hand, unfortunately, we did not manage to equalize. We missed out on accuracy.”

“It’s better, it’s the continuation of the work of the former coach (Editor’s note: Rui Almeida who was landed on 1^is FEBRUARY). We didn’t necessarily have a plan, but we knew that there was a very, very strong team. So our intention was to play with a low point, wait and play the counters. We arrived without pressure, we had nothing to lose, so we played without the handbrake. For a while, I feel that the players are more liberated, we talk a lot to find out what they expect, it’s up to me to impose what I want on them. Now we have to keep our heads on our shoulders and continue to work as I told the players.”