Saint-Étienne carried out a superb operation this Friday evening by winning on the lawn of Troyes (3-2), during the 14th day of Ligue 2. Opposed to the leader of the championship, the Greens were able to demonstrate efficiency and realism in a spectacular match, despite the great resistance of the Trojans. This success allows Eirik Horneland’s men to get back on the podium, just two points from the lead.
The Stéphanois quickly took control of the match. After a first alert from Irvin Cardona (8th), Augustine Boakye opened the scoring in the 10th minute with a shot from the left, at the conclusion of a magnificent collective movement initiated by Joshua Duffus. The latter, untenable, then delivered another decisive pass for Cardona, who doubled the lead with a right-footed shot (32nd). Just before the break, Duffus was rewarded for his efforts by scoring Saint-Etienne’s third goal with an unstoppable cross shot (40th).
Troyes reduces the gap but ASSE holds on
Trailing 3-0 at halftime, Troyes tried to react with energy after the break. From the restart, Gautier Larsonneur had to work to repel an attempt from Ifnaoui, before giving in at the hour mark with a great action concluded by Mouhamed Diop (62nd). The Trojans pushed until the end and reduced the gap in the last minutes thanks to Ripart (85th), reigniting the suspense in a high-intensity end to the match.
Despite a second half dominated by Troyes, the Greens held on to achieve a valuable success against the leader. Thanks to these three points, ASSE returns to the Ligue 2 podium, just behind Troyes and Red Star, and bounces back after its defeat last weekend against the Audoniens (2-1).
