AS Saint-Étienne’s Promotion Push Stalls in Dramatic Draw at Nancy

A late surge saved a point for AS Saint-Étienne on Saturday, but the result leaves the “Verts” in a precarious position as the Ligue 2 season enters its final stretch. A 1-1 draw against AS Nancy-Lorraine at the Stade Marcel-Picot served as a stark reminder of the volatility facing Philippe Montanier’s side in their quest for a return to the top flight.

The match began poorly for the visitors, who conceded a goal in the 6th minute, spending much of the evening chasing the game. It took until the depths of stoppage time—specifically the 97th minute—for Lucas Stassin to find the equalizer, snatching a point that felt more like a rescue mission than a strategic victory.

The Standings: A Missed Opportunity

For AS Saint-Étienne, this was a match they could not afford to drop points in. The timing was particularly frustrating; the league leader, Troyes (ESTAC), had been held to a 2-2 draw by Montpellier HSC earlier that afternoon. A victory in Nancy would have allowed the Verts to close the gap significantly.

Instead, Troyes maintains a four-point lead over the second-place Saint-Étienne with only five games remaining in the season. The draw also opens the door for the third-place Le Mans FC to apply pressure. Should Le Mans defeat Pau FC on Monday, they will move within a single point of the Stéphanois, turning the race for the top two into a three-way scramble.

Montanier’s Consistency Crisis

Philippe Montanier did not mince words following the final whistle. The head coach expressed deep disappointment in his team’s performance, highlighting a recurring theme of inconsistency that has plagued the squad in recent weeks.

Montanier pointed back to a 0-0 draw against Grenoble during the 27th matchday as part of a pattern of fluctuating form. “We cannot do an average match, then a bad match, then a excellent match,” Montanier criticized. “We cannot do one match on, one match off with our ambitions.”

When pressed on the specific causes of the poor performance in Nancy, the coach described the situation as “multifactorial,” suggesting a systemic lack of precision rather than a single tactical failure.

The Goalkeeper Controversy: Maubleu Over Larsonneur

Beyond the result on the pitch, the match was overshadowed by a bold and controversial selection choice in goal. Montanier opted to start veteran Brice Maubleu, leaving captain and regular number one Gautier Larsonneur on the bench.

Larsonneur had only recently returned from a quadriceps injury sustained in mid-March. Even as the captain likely expected to reclaim his starting spot, Montanier’s decision was a clear signal that status does not guarantee a starting role in the current regime. Maubleu has been in exceptional form during Larsonneur’s absence, recording a string of clean sheets and providing a level of serenity that Montanier felt was necessary for the trip to Nancy.

The coach’s justification for the move was cold and definitive. Speaking to beIN Sports before the match, Montanier stated, “I don’t have to justify myself to them, or you.” He explained that his selection process is based strictly on the previous match, the week’s training, the specific opponent, and the balance of the remaining eleven players.

The View from Nancy

For AS Nancy-Lorraine, the draw was a bittersweet outcome. Coach Pablo Correa expressed satisfaction with the atmosphere and the intensity of the match, noting the significance of facing a club of Saint-Étienne’s stature.

Although, Correa was gutted by the 90+7 equalizer. He lamented a lack of “malice” and poor game management in the second half, noting that while his team created spaces and caused tactical problems for the Verts, they failed to be clinical in the final third. “We lacked precision in the final choices,” Correa noted, citing balls arriving too late or players drifting offside as the decisive details.

For a global audience following the French second tier, this result underscores the brutal nature of the Ligue 2 promotion race, where a single lapse in concentration in the 97th minute can shift the psychological momentum of an entire season.

Key Match Facts

The immediate focus now shifts to the league table. AS Saint-Étienne must wait to see if Le Mans FC can capitalize on their Monday fixture against Pau FC to close the gap to a single point. With the pressure mounting on Montanier and a dressing room potentially unsettled by selection choices, the Verts enter the final five games on a knife-edge.

Next Checkpoint: The final standings of Matchday 29 will be confirmed following the Le Mans FC vs. Pau FC match on Monday.

Do you think Montanier’s decision to bench Larsonneur was a masterstroke or a mistake that disrupted the team’s chemistry? Let us grasp in the comments below.