After two matches without a victory, Saint-Étienne came to win on the lawn of Caen, leader of Ligue 2 at the start of this 6th day. In a new configuration, Laurent Batlles’ players were solid and efficient. They are back in the first half of the ranking.
There was a lot of uncertainty in Caen and Saint-Étienne for the resumption after the international break. The Normans knew that they would have to do without Yohan Court (thigh) and Bilal Brahimi (foot), two major elements at the start of the season at Stade Malherbe. The Greens, in addition to palpable tensions on and off the field, arrived with doubts after their last two draws in Annecy (1-1) and especially the worrying one at home against Valenciennes (0-0).
Even Laurent Batlles, the Saint-Etienne coach, had decided to innovate, abandoning his three-way defense for a rarely used 4-3-3. But it was Saint-Étienne who did the best in the first period. With Florian Tardieu on the lookout and Benjamin Bouchouari at the helm, the Greens will have controlled, without ever being put in danger. They even opened the scoring with a penalty from Tardieu after a foul by Romain Thomas on Lamine Fomba (29th).
Caen loses despite Mendy’s goal
Caen, still pushed by its audience, would react well. And get great opportunities through Autret (51st), Le Bihan (56th), Thomas (62nd), Mendy (64th) or even Traoré (66th). But he missed a little accuracy during these twenty minutes of intense domination. Saint-Étienne then took the opportunity to increase the score through Sissoko (88th).
Alexandre Mendy, for his 6th goal of the season, reduced the score (90th+3), too late to reverse the outcome of the game. After Laval, the Caennais suffered their second setback in a row and will perhaps no longer be leader at the end of this day.
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