The match: 2-1
Despite the minus five degrees felt at kick-off, the Reims public took less than ten minutes to warm up this Friday evening, when the Moroccan Amir Richardson opened the scoring by taking the ball from the left to send it under the bar (10th, 1-0). This early success outlined the contours of a victory hoped for and achieved, after two big setbacks in a row (0-3 in front of Paris-SG, 1-3 in Rennes).
Reims had not yet tasted it this season and it did not intend to extend this negative series beyond. To return to victory, Stade de Reims relied on its well-established 3-5-2, the liveliness and complicity of its attackers, the paws and vision of Teddy Teuma and the… clumsiness of Strasbourg .
Defensive first of all, since Daramy pushed Lucas Perrin to score against his clan (2-0, 42nd). Offensive, above all. If Emanuel Emegha had not made the wrong footing area after getting rid of Joseph Okumu, – which led the Dutchman to shoot at point blank range… side (9th) – it was Strasbourg who would have opened the score, one minute before Reims. This is undoubtedly the first and most important turning point of this meeting.
Kevin Gameiro then delayed too long before serving Habib Diarra (34th), then hitting the target from the right (70th). Finally and for nothing. This appears all the more annoying, for the Alsatians, as they were not outclassed in the game. If we forget the header next to Emegha (76th), they even appeared to be making progress on the offensive level.
While they had only scored six shots on the road so far this season – statistics were no worse in the five best European Championships – the Strasbourg side scored three of their ten shots, at the Auguste-Delaune stadium. One of them even allowed Kevin Gameiro to score his first goal of the season, by converting a penalty obtained by Angelo, author of a very good comeback (88th).
However, this was not enough to allow Racing Club de Strasbourg to return to a victory after which it has continued to run since September 24 (1-0 in Metz) and seven matches now (three draws and four defeats). This is starting to do a lot for a team which risks finding itself in a relegation position at the end of this 14th day of Ligue 1. Reims is already assured of remaining in the French top 5. That, too, is not nothing.
The player: Daramy, the detonator
If the young Danish international (21 years old) did not succeed everything, he had a lot to do with the success of the Champenois. It was first of all he who, served to the left of the Alsatian penalty area, crossed from behind for Amir Richardson’s opener (10th). Launched deep by Maxime Busi, Mohammed Daramy then had fun with goalkeeper Matz Sels and Abdoulaye Sylla, before pushing Lucas Perrin to tackle the ball into his own net (42nd). Nothing more was needed to allow Reims to return to success.
75
This is, in seconds, the time which separates the big failure of Strasbourg Emanuel Emegha from the opening score of Rémois Amir Richardsson (10th)
