Imperial Samba, invisible Mounié… the tops and the flops

The Sang et Or snatched three precious points against Stade Brestois in this race for the Champions League (1-0).

TOPS

Samba, a high-flying performance

The French goalkeeper once again produced a grandiose performance in his cages. Little used in the first act, Brice Samba mainly imposed himself in the air to reassure his block. On Brest crosses which often lacked precision, the Frenchman did not hesitate to jump higher than everyone to catch all the opposing balls. In the second act, he had to use his line much more often. First caught behind a shot from Satriano, Samba was lucky when he saw his post push back this opponent’s shot. Subsequently, the goalkeeper of the France team made reflex saves on his line to put his team in the lead in this meeting. He was also very precise in his throws, whether with the foot (32/43) or with the hand (8/8).

The Lensois block did not crack

The Lensois block disgusted Stade Brestois. Even if the Bretons lacked precision in the first act, the Lensois defenders were often the cause of this lack of precision. In the air, the Lensois won in all the duels, especially on set pieces. With a compact and well-organized block, RC Lens let the Brestois break their teeth on its posts. Even if Frankowski was discreet, Aguilar contributed well offensively. It was the right back who scored the only goal of this meeting, with a well-aimed header after following yet another miss from Elye Wahi.

FLOPS

Mounié was invisible

The SB 29 striker had difficulty influencing this meeting. Well contained by the Lensois block, Steve Mounié won too few duels in this meeting (1/9). Despite its large size, it did not succeed in imposing itself in the air to serve as a point of support to launch Breton attacks. In the area, he often lacked the flair to position himself to receive crosses. His only shot of the match missed the target. He made 2 mistakes in his often poorly negotiated duels and he had time to lose 7 balls before being replaced by Satriano quite early (58th). The Uruguayan brought depth and presence in the area unlike him. He only touched 17 small balls in this meeting.

Wahi didn’t do better

Even if he seemed to have finally found an acceptable form given the price of his transfer in the off-season (35M euros), the young French striker still had a lot of difficulty in this meeting. Elye Wahi failed to make any impact against a Breton defense. Well followed in his deep shots, the former Montpellier player could not get off at the right time to receive balls behind the defense. Wahi only fired one shot out of the 24 balls he touched. He still managed to lose 9 balls without causing any fouls and was flagged once in an offside position. He was replaced by Wesley Saïd (72nd) who also did not weigh on the opposing defense.