Tuesday, January 31 during the 21st day of Ligue 2, the Ruthénois equalized on a header from Boissier ten minutes from the end (1-1), and held until the whistle despite the expulsion of Lionel Mpasi and his replacement by Lorenzo Rajot in goal.
A point snatched with sweat for Rodez. Tuesday January 31, the Aveyronnais (17th) drew (1-1) in Metz (4th) thanks to an equalizer from Boissier. And they held on until the final whistle, despite the expulsion of Lionel Mpasi (89th) and his replacement in the cage by Lorenzo Rajot.
During the first thirty minutes, the Messins imposed almost constant pressure on the Ruthenians, monopolizing the ball. Until in the 38th minute, Didier Santini’s men came close to opening the scoring in Metz on a defensive error. But, although well placed in front of goal, Georges Mikautadze, second top scorer in the championship, missed the opportunity by shooting wide. Behind, the blood and gold continued to resist until the whistle.
After the break, both teams took longer than expected to emerge from the locker room. Because Pierre Legat, the central referee of the meeting, could not return to the lawn because of a breakdown and had to give way to the fourth referee, Charlie Sorel.
Mouyokolo seriously injured
After an incursion of several minutes from Rodez in the Lorraine camp, Killian Corredor had the opportunity to strike on the left of the surface in the 50th minute. A shot easily stopped by Alexandre Oukidja but which gave impetus to the Ruthenians. The pace picked up on both sides. Metz started to want to show their status as the best attack in Ligue 2 and it was Marvin Senaya who saved his people by stopping two consecutive offensives on the line (59th). And the Messin highlight did not stop there, with Mikautadze’s powerful cross shot in the 63rd, signing his tenth goal of the season (63rd). Lionel Mpasi was beaten.
In the 67th, Loris Mouyokolo left the field on a stretcher after being injured alone on a tackle. And he will surely be absent from the Raf group for a while because the defender would suffer from a ruptured Achilles tendon.
Equalization then an expulsion
But Rodez did not abdicate. In the 78th, Bradley Danger took the place of Rémy Boissier to take a corner. And not by chance because Boissier tried his luck with a header for the first time, without success, before he found the back of the net a few seconds later, again from a corner, with a header. The equalizer was pulled off by the Ruthenians. And the Messin occasions that followed did not find success.
One minute from the end, Lionel Mpasi came out of his area and mowed down Xhuliano Skuka. A fault which earned him a red card, but Rodez having exhausted his changes, it was Lorenzo Rajot who put on the gloves. He didn’t have to fend off the free kick taken by Fali Candé, who missed it, but Metz continued to shoot at the Ruthenian goal. But the blood and gold held until the end.
Despite this point, Rodez fell to 18th place following the victory (1-2) of Nîmes at Guingamp. And the proteges of Didier Santini will not have much time to recover because they will be back on the lawn on Friday February 3, with the reception of Sochaux at Paul-Lignon (8:45 p.m.).
