Charleroi loses heavily in friendly at Stade de Reims

There was a lot of waste from the start of the match but, after a hesitation from Koffi, Charleroi nevertheless created his first real chance: a header from Zorgane on a cross from Nkuba, pushed back by the post (23rd). Kayembe’s shot ended up off target (30′).

Sporting was initially rather well in place in loss of ball but it clearly lacked commitment and accuracy. Illustration with the penalty a little stupidly conceded by Nkuba, late. In power, Balogun took Koffi on the wrong foot (1-0, 37th). The Burkinabé goalkeeper, who must regain his starting stripes, was happier on a strike from Adeline in Retraining (45th). The one led by Nkuba for Badji was narrowly saved by Foket (51st).

Offensively, Charleroi too often made the wrong choices in the last or penultimate pass. We felt this Friday a team still lacking confidence or even, more worryingly, clear ideas and application.

While the game was punctuated by many technical approximations, on a new messy action in the Carolingian rectangle, Adeline pushed the ball to the bottom (2-0, 60th).

Second painful period

After the first hour of play, Felice Mazzù made ten changes. Only Kayembe remained on the pitch – then replaced by Nkuba for the last 25 minutes – and the team was then laid out in a 3-5-2 formation with Benbouali and Descotte in attack. Collective performance has deteriorated. Virtually none of these players scored points and Reims then took over an amorphous Sporting, even absent at times.

The third goal, scored by Zeneli with a shot at the entrance to the rectangle which seemed manageable for Patron, came to sanction this attitude. But the French goalkeeper then caught up well by deflecting two Reims shots at close range. Without him, and without Zeneli’s clumsiness, the score could have been much heavier.

In a last part of the match which was a little better, although messy, Hosseinzadeh thought of closing the gap, with a header, but he was signaled in an offside position by… a member of the Reims staff who had taken the place of one of the line judges.

Descotte’s coiled shot was diverted by a fine flight from Pentz (102nd). Despite some interesting combinations at the end of the match, Charleroi remained silent. Ten days before the resumption of the championship, Felice Mazzù has a lot on his plate.

Charleroi (1st hour) : Coffee ; Baker, Marcq, Boukamir ; Rain, Zorgane, Ilaimaharitra, Horn (87th Rain) ; Price, Gholizadeh, Badji.

Charleroi (2nd hour) : patron ; Wasinski, Andreou, Bessilé ; Tchatchoua, Morioka, Heymans, Kayembe, Hosseinzadeh ; Descotte, Benbouali.

The goals : 1-0 Balogun (37e), 2-0 Adeline (60e), 3-0 Zeneli (75e).