The Eaglets never made a Montpellier team tremble, a team that, unlike their visitors, wanted to play and, above all, to win.
Lucien Favre and the Red and Black brooded over their unthinkable defeat against OM for 15 days. They will have only 4 days before diving back into competition (Thursday against Lazio), but unfortunately, the scenario of this match in Hérault should also give them some headaches.
The Swiss coach had stuck with his traditional 4-4-2 formation, in which Jallet and Koziello returned. A setup that adapted well to the opponent’s 3-5-2. From the first moments, the Red and Black were threatening, through Plea (4′) and Balotelli (7′).
Since the start of the season, although the Eaglets manage to create numerous chances, unfortunately, they concede too many. In this first act, the Hérault threat came from set-pieces, thankfully without precision with off-target headers from Aguilar (5′), Hilton (36′). However, in the interval, it was mostly the Azuréens who had the best opportunities. And what chances they were! On a misunderstanding between Congré and Hilton, Plea managed to toe-poke the ball in the opposing area but was thwarted by Lecomte. Balotelli followed and thought he had scored in the empty net, but that was without accounting for an incredible leap from the home goalkeeper (27′). Seconds later, St Maximin got past his opponent but was also stopped by Lecomte (28′). Same outcome for Jallet, who opened up his foot well, but again the goalkeeper was there to block (29′). At the end of the period, after an incredible “coat hanger” control, Super Mario created a chance but once again had to admit defeat against the agility of the day’s “pink” last defender.
The Eaglets’ entrance into the second period was more complicated. It is an unfortunate constant of this first third of the season for the Red and Black, surprised at the 55′ mark by a missile from Sessegnon, a certainly superb goal, but on which the Beninese had too much time to advance and prepare his shot.
Trailing by one goal, the Niçois had the chance to come back. This time Lecomte did not need to wear his superhero costume. He was backed up on the line by Aguilar on a shot from Lees-Melou following a superb break from Saint-Maximin. And Alassane Plea saw his shot go astray face-to-face, launched after a superb deflection from Balotelli.
One too many missed opportunities for the Gym, who went down on one knee a few minutes later to a beautiful curling shot from Isaac Mbenza, who had just come into the game (2-0, 75′)…
With 10 points in 9 matches, the Eaglets have already dropped many points and will need to bounce back next Sunday when they host Strasbourg at the Allianz Riviera.
WORDS, WORDS…
LUCIEN FAVRE: “We played a good first half, but a match lasts 95 minutes. It’s a rhythm to maintain, whether offensively or defensively. We saw that we struggled to maintain in the second half the rhythm we imposed in the first. To have so many chances in the first half and go in at 0-0, that’s not a problem in itself. That’s how it is, that’s football. But afterward, you have to stay focused, keep running. Be compact as we did well for 45 minutes, with quite high ball possession. If we stop making those off-the-ball runs, we can’t perform at the same level. If one or two do it less well, it follows on.”
MAXIME LE MARCHAND: “There were really two different halves. In the first, we were well-positioned, we had regained our automatisms and reproduced what we had worked on the day before. But we lacked success to score. In the 2nd, we put the foot down and lost balls, which allowed them to counter-attack, especially on the 2nd goal. Montpellier had more success with long shots that went in the right place. But we have to build on the positive: we have certainties in the game, and that’s what will allow us to move forward.”
CHRISTOPHE JALLET: “We had a very good first half and had quite a few chances to open the score early. Maybe we gave them a boost because we had some technical waste coming back from the locker room. Unfortunately, we conceded that goal on one of their first chances, a long shot. We’re not having much luck in the two areas of truth, whether offensively or defensively, and every little mistake costs us. There are periods like that, where things don’t seem to go our way. We have to weather the storm and regroup before the important match on Thursday in the Europa League against Lazio. It’s up to us to work twice as hard to reverse the trend.”
