Saint-Etienne was ousted by Lens in the French League

The Way of the Cross continues in Saint-Etienne. The authors of a consistent performance and still leading in score in the 77th minute, the Greens ended up succumbing to the waves of Lensoise on Saturday (1-2). Without a win in Ligue 1 since November 21 (2-1 in Troyes), this time they cracked in the last seconds with a killer kick from Sekou Fofana (90 + 5). After this 12th defeat of the season, the ASSE Red Lantern remained. Lens moves up to fourth and cements his position as a contender for Europe.

Nevertheless, the Greens signed a particularly compelling first period. Aside from two off-line attempts by Gaël Kakuta (1st) and Wesley Saïd (3rd) to start hostilities, the first real excitement came from Yvan Maçon’s dash on the right side. Jean-Louis Leica saved the shot from Saint-Etienne (seventh). Flawlessly trying Mehdi Kamara (36), Lensouis’ goalkeeper was well understated in the ASSE opener. In the course of Riyad Boudebouz’s shot, he turned the ball into his net (39th position). Irreversible in the situation, Stefano could also count on Paul Bernardoni to fill in the ceded gaps at the back (25, 32, 45).

costly failure

More daring after the break, Lens raised his voice and forced his host to turn into his own half of the field. But Arnaud Kalimundo (61) missed the goal by a few centimeters and Florian Sotoka went up against Bernardoni (65). In difficult circumstances, Saint-Etienne wasted the best cartridge to kill the meeting. Sended by Bodeboz after a quick transfer, Lucas Gorna sent his recovery from close range over Linsoa’s goal (72). Six minutes later, Sotoka equalized from a corner kick (78). After a long siege from the roof of Saint-Étienne who saw him twice with a winning goal (88 and 89), Fofana sent an unstoppable missile to direct Pascal Dubras’ men to the bell.

The truth: Lens, the king of the end in 2022

After the successes against Lil Wren, Lens presented himself with another victory over the gongs on Saturday. Back in the game thanks to a successful new entry from a striker (Sotoca after Said last weekend), Sang et Or were able to count on their leader to win. Already an exceptional duo against Lille, Fofana did it again with a powerful shot after extra time.