Two momentous victories. Both traveling, this Friday on the occasion of the 29th day, the two Ile-de-France representatives of the National struck a big blow, one for the rise in Ligue 2, the other for maintenance.
What you must remember
The rise to Ligue 2 is getting closer and closer for Red Star, winner at Marignane (2-0). If the third, Martigues, is beaten on Monday in Nancy, Habib Beye’s team would officially validate its rise in the event of success against Dijon next Friday at Bauer. Otherwise, it will be in Nîmes in two weeks. A matter of days then…
If Marignane had entered the match better, calling on Quentin Beunardeau (3rd, 8th), the Red Star opened the scoring with a strike from Kemo Cissé (0-1, 18th). The right piston, one of the revelations of the season, scored his 7th goal of the season. In the second period, Hacène Benali, Audon’s top scorer, scored his 11th goal of the season on a penalty (0-2, 73rd).
In a crucial match for maintaining Nîmes, a direct opponent at the bottom of the table, Versailles struck a huge blow by winning thanks to Mehdi Baaloudj’s 8th goal of the season (0-1, 85th). In the standings, Versailles moved up to 9th place, now 5 points ahead of Marignane, 13th and first relegated. Remaining in National is getting closer for Jean-Luc Vasseur’s team which won its 4th victory in 7 games since his arrival on the bench in place of Grégory Vignal.
Deliberately cautious and wait-and-see, Versailles made the difference at the end of the match. After a header from Diakhaby on the post (70th), two saves from the goalkeeper on strikes from Lens (75th) and Nadje (85th), the Nîmes defense cracked. The young Nîmes Lamgahez, who was playing his first National match, in fact involuntarily “offered” a decisive pass to Baaloudj.
The player: Mehdi Baaloudj (Versailles)
His return in the 60th minute coincided with the offensive awakening of Versailles who began to play a little higher, with more movements. Top scorer for his team, Mehdi Baaloudj scored his 8th goal of the season. A crucial goal for maintenance. Absent for six weeks due to injury, Baaloudj was missed by his team.
Returning last week against Dijon (2-0), he is not yet “fit to play 90 minutes” according to Jean-Luc Vasseur who does not want to “take any risks” with him. Having passed through the training centers of OM and Guingamp then Martigues, Baaloudj, 22, under contract with Versailles until 2025, is one of the revelations of the season in National.
The number: 6
Less comfortable on the road in recent weeks (1 success in their last nine away matches), Red Star won their 6th success away from their fortress of Bauer where they are invincible (12 wins, 2 draws).
The reaction
Jean-Luc Vasseur (versailles coach): “Of course, I prefer to win 6-4 but in our situation, you have to know how to adopt this kind of posture. We play on our strengths which are to defend well, place counterattacks and be dangerous from set pieces. The players buy into all of that. They displayed a remarkable state of mind and a lot of solidarity. Everyone fought for their teammate. The entrants brought and showed a lot of determination.
This is where we see the collective strength of a group. Nîmes tossed us around a bit in the first half but we were solid. I haven’t looked at the rankings yet. What I want is for us to leave as many teams behind us and to escape as quickly as possible by reaching 42-44 points very quickly. »
Match sheets
MARIGNANE GIGNAC – RED STAR 0-2 (0-1).
Goals. K. Cissé (18th), Benali (73 sp).
Red Star: Beunardeau – Meyapya, Kouagba (cap.), R. Doucouré (Eickmayer, 64th) – Cissé, Dembi (Fall, 88th), Hachem, F. Doucouré – Ifnaoui, Benali (Ndoye, 75th), Botella (Anani, 88th). Enter. :Beye.
NÎMES – VERSAILLES 0-1 (0-0).
But. Baaloudj (85e).
Versailles: Renot – Leborgne (Lefèvre, 60th), Akueson (cap.), Diakhaby, Atikulac – Karamoko, Basque – Bangoura (Lens, 74th), Nadje (Traoré, 86th), Hend (Jaques, 86th) – Prunier (Baaloudj, 60th). Enter. : Vasseur.
