AS Saint-Etienne will return to Ligue 1 next season after winning their promotion play-off against FC Metz by drawing 2-2 after extra time on Sunday June 2 in Moselle after winning the first leg 2-1 last Thursday.
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After a match played almost entirely eleven against ten, Saint-Étienne won the play-off for accession to Ligue 1 (2-1, 2-2) after extra time. Two years after leaving, this historic French football club will make its comeback in Ligue 1 and thus reconnect with its glorious history, responding to the banner displayed by its 946 supporters present at the Stade Saint-Symphorien: “It’s time to give back their place to the green people. »
Metz and its back and forth between L1 and L2
Conversely, Metz has not managed to break with its recent history of back and forth between the two divisions. The Garnets are going down to Ligue 2 for the seventh time in the 21st century, which is a record among the five major European championships.
Starting with a one-goal disadvantage to overcome (2-1), the Lorraine club immediately sawed off the branch on which it was resting, when Papa Diallo was excluded (6th), guilty of a sole on the right knee by Dennis Appiah.
But curiously, it was Laszlo Bölöni’s players who played with the most enthusiasm, lighting the first fuses from afar during the first quarter of an hour. The Messins finally opened the scoring through Lamine Camara after a cross from captain Matthieu Udol (17th).
Already filled with doubt which sometimes inhabits the favorites, the Stéphanois then played with fear in their stomachs, failing to extinguish the fire of the Metz dragon, which even turned into a fire when Georges Mikautadze obtained a penalty at the price of a solitary effort on the left wing (23rd). At the edge of the cliff, the Stéphanois then reacted, reducing the score by Léo Petrot (35th), alone at the far post after a corner.
The stakes sometimes paralyzed the players in this match
Already high before kick-off, with clashes between supporters and seven arrests, the tension rose further on the pitch and in the stands. Several contentious decisions were involved, first and foremost the cancellation of a goal for ASSE (64th), the referee considering that Ibrahim Sissoko had fouled Metz goalkeeper Alexandre Oukidja in the continuity of his shot.
The stakes sometimes paralyzed the players in this match of fear, who failed to deliver the final blow at the end of regulation time. “ Sainté” took the advantage in the game and in the number of chances, and was finally rewarded during extra time, when Ibrahima Wadji scored the equalizing goal (117th), that of the climb. At the end of the suspense, at the end of themselves, the Stéphanois obtained what they had been waiting for for two seasons: to play in Ligue 1.
Supported by a strong surge of fervor, nourished by its status as a historic club, AS Saint-Étienne, today far from its former glory and its European epic of the 1970s, will now have to focus on maintaining itself in an L1 with 18 teams.