One stitch at a time! Without shining, Paris FC held on this Sunday afternoon in Le Havre and returned home with one more point on their scoreboard. In front of just over 17,000 spectators gathered at the Stade Océane, Stéphane Gilli’s men took advantage of a missed penalty by Soumaré around ten minutes from the end of regulation time (78th) to obtain a draw (0-0) a week after being joined by Auxerre at home (1-1).
After the disappointment of this meeting, where Paris FC had been “below in almost all areas” as coach Stéphane Gilli had recognized, the content was a little more convincing. The return from injury of Maxime Lopez, captain, in midfield was good for the Parisians but the lack of precision in restarts and the numerous losses of the ball in the transition phases put them in difficulty throughout the match.
Le Havre will be able to regret their lack of success after fifteen minutes of play, with a post found by Ndiaye (16th) but above all a crossbar from Mbwana Samatta (63rd) with a header. As for Paris FC, they will also be able to thank Kevin Trapp, preferred to Obed Nkambadio, and valuable especially at the start of the second half. The former Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper made numerous interventions (47th, 57th, 58th, 63rd) and remained calm in the face of the incursions of Ciel et Marine.
Ollila very close to scoring
Starting for the second time this season, Tuomas Ollila almost opened his account in the first half. The Finnish left-back, who had already been very solid during Paris FC’s victory in Monaco (0-1), delighted with his quality of strike. It is he who creates a first thrill on the Parisian side with a curling shot with his right foot, at the entrance to the area (12th), which touches the edge of Mory Diaw’s goal. Half an hour later (40th), this time he stumbled against the right post. Found by Maxime Lopez on a crossbar, Moses Simon then shifted his defender who this time launched a powerful strike from the left. At the end of the match, the entries of Jonathan Ikoné and Alimami Gory allowed new offensives but none really worried Le Havre.
“I think there was an awareness, it was important to realize the bad match we had,” said Maxime Lopez at a press conference this Friday about the match against Auxerre. With a better face and one more point, Paris retains its 13th place in the Ligue 1 standings but it will take more to reassure itself definitively before the break.
