The DFCO, receives Niort, Friday February 3, 2023. A “shock” at the bottom of the table between Dijon, 17th, and Niort, 20th. Find the latest pre-match echoes.
Two defeats in a row without scoring, against Laval and Bordeaux, and a club that is sinking into crisis. While the descent into National is no longer a distant danger, but an imminent danger, the DFCO receives Niort, Friday February 3, 2023 (at 8:45 p.m.). A 22nd day of Ligue 2 with the scent of “no room for error” between Dijon, 17th and first relegated, and Niort – 20th and therefore last in the championship.
Rocchia still absent, premiere night for Aké?
For those absent, Christopher Rocchia will not yet return. He’s not expected for two weeks. Absent for at least two months, Ahmad Ngouyamsa is also out, as is Roger Assalé. There is also uncertainty over whether or not the latest recruit, Marley Aké, qualifies. Answer in the evening.
During the last match in Laval, Omar Daf had decided to change goalkeeper, Saturnin Allagbé replacing Baptiste Reynet, and providing a rather convincing performance. Bis repetita Friday against Niort? “I will make the decision at the end of this afternoon’s session”responds vaguely Omar Daf, not wanting to reveal his game, and indicating “make the choice in relation to the states of form”.
“We have 17 games left, every weekend it will be a mandatory victory”
The DFCO is in an emergency form. Urgency to take points, urgency to get up, urgency to show something else – especially in front of his audience. “We have 17 games left, every weekend it will be a mandatory victory for us. There is an awareness, the players are aware of the situation”promet Omar Daf.
“The situation is even very urgent”abounds the defender Sénou Coulibaly. “In the last matches we didn’t have a competitive spirit, he observes, lucid. There are 17 games left, 17 finals, it doesn’t matter how we win, we have to win tomorrow.”.
Remember the first leg
The disaster scenario of the first leg against Niort remains (for the moment) the worst memory of this Ligue 2 season. Dijon leads 1-0, Baptiste Reynet even takes a penalty, then Xande Silva takes a red card, and the DFCO s collapsed in stoppage time. 2-1 finally in favor of Niort.
Premonitory, midfielder Lucas Deaux, who has since left for National in Nancy, had pushed this famous rant: “Not a group with a competitive mindset”. “It’s a match that hasn’t always passed, the way we are joined, when we had the cards in hand”, indicates Senou Coulibaly on the eve of the match.
The match could be prolific, because, last season, the oppositions between Dijon and Niort offered a spectacle. In the first leg, DFCO trailed 2-0 before leveling at 2-2. On the return, the DFCO won 3-1 at René-Gaillard, for the last victory of the Garande era.
Niort, red lantern, with an interim coach
It is possible to do worse than the DFCO this season, the proof with Niort. The Chamois are bottom of the table, with only four wins in 21 games – one less than Dijon. Niort, 17 points on the clock, has just separated from his trainer, Rui Almeida. He had himself replaced Sébastien Desabre during the season. Reserve coach Oumar Tchomogo takes over the interim, but he will not be on the bench at Gaston-Gérard. It will be Ande Dona N’Doh, who had already done the interim in the first part of the season.
For this trip to Burgundy, Niort will also be without defender Guy Kilama, third most used outfield player this season, who received a red card in the Niortais’ last match against Amiens (3-1 defeat). The DFCO will however find an old acquaintance: the defender Quentin Bernard, spent in Dijon during the 2015/2016 season, and who joined Niort (his training club) during this winter transfer window.
- Follow DFCO – Niort in full on the radio on France Bleu Bourgogne this Friday! Pre-match from 8:30 p.m., full DFCO from 8:45 p.m.
