Ligue 1: Brest and Strasbourg back to back

Never two without three ? Not for Brest. Winners of their last two Ligue 1 matches, Éric Roy's men were held in check by Strasbourg (1-1) this Thursday, at the Francis-Le-Blé stadium, during a late match of the 12th day of the championship. Emegha responded to Le Douaron's opener. Brest is seventh in the ranking and Strasbourg, 13th.

With confidence after two victories obtained in Montpellier (3-1) and against Clermont (3-0), Stade Brestois could confirm its status as the surprise team of the season by taking advantage of this late match. His coach Eric Roy decided to trust usual replacements (Le Cardinal, Martin, Doumbia, Satriano) in the absence of his playing master, Pierre Lees-Melou. Strasbourg, led by an attacking duo Gameiro-Mothiba, wanted to take advantage of the slightest space left on the counter-attack. And Patrick Vieira's plan almost worked in the first half when Brest got stuck in a false rhythm, leaving the best opportunities to the Alsatians.

Very mobile, Bakwa saw his shot blocked by Brassier (27th) before Mothiba came up against Bizot (29th). Racing seemed able to take the advantage while the Brestois, uninspired, relied on Del Castillo's set pieces to prove dangerous. Doukouré injured in the middle, Vieira launched the attacker Emegha who could have scored on his first interesting ball (37th). Something done by Le Douaron, for “the Ty’ Zefs”, lying in wait in the area after good work from Doumbia (1-0, 44th). The Francis-Le Blé stadium could rejoice, its team took the lead at the break despite 45 sluggish minutes.

Undoubtedly dissatisfied with their performance despite the score, Eric Roy's players raised their voice upon returning from the locker room, confiscating the ball from Strasbourg with calm and control. The visitors seemed lost and without ideas, the only desperate strikes from Guilbert alerted Bizot (62nd, 74th). Fortunately on the Racing side, the entrants (Angelo, Mwanga, Dion) have (finally) brought dynamism and imbalance. Clumsy with his head (79th), Emegha equalized with his right foot to improve Dion's action (1-1, 80th). Surprised, Brest and its public pushed in the last minutes in order to win the victory but neither Mounié (84th) nor Camara (91st) managed to play the hero. Final score 1-1 and regrets for Stade Brestois who miss the opportunity to enter the top 5. Strasbourg will be satisfied with this point brought back from Finistère.