Reims too good for sorry Saint-Etienne | OneFootball

Stade de Reims deepened the misery for sorry AS Saint-Etienne on Saturday as they beat Ligue 1’s bottom club 2-0 at the Stade Auguste-Delaune.

Stade de Reims 2-0 AS Saint-Etienne

THE MATCH

Saint-Etienne were playing their first game since the sacking of manager Claude Puel in the wake of last weekend’s 5-0 home loss to Stade Rennais FC. Julien Sablé took charge of the team on a caretaker basis but was not able to make an immediate impact as Les Verts fell behind to an El Bilal Touré penalty midway through the first half and then had Denis Bouanga sent off just before the interval, before Nathanaël Mbuku sealed the points for the hosts late on.

Reims started the better of the two teams and went in front midway through the first half as Malian striker Touré beat Etienne Green from the penalty spot after the Saint-Etienne goalkeeper had been penalised for bringing down Hugo Ekitiké in the area.

Ryad Boudebouz did hit the outside of a post direct from a corner but the away side offered little in reply and were reduced to 10 men as the game moved into stoppage time at the end of the first half. Bouanga raised his hand to Ilan Kebbal off the ball and was shown a straight red card.

Reims then sought to press home their one-man advantage in the second half and Touré nearly made it 2-0 within five minutes of the restart, but his backheeled effort was tipped over by Stefan Bajic, a half-time replacement in goal for the injured Green. Touré then headed a great chance wide from a Ghislain Konan cross midway through the second half and substitute Anastasios Donis also came close before the second goal finally arrived in the 89th minute, Ekitiké setting up Mbuku to stroke home.

This was a third win in four games for Reims, whose coach Óscar García watched from the stands as he served a suspension, having missed the last two games entirely after testing positive for Covid-19. Saint-Etienne remain rooted to the bottom.

THE PLAYER: Hugo Ekitiké

The 19-year-old has been the story of the season for Reims. The local boy with the long legs returned from a loan spell in Denmark in the summer and is their top scorer with seven Ligue 1 Uber Eats goals. He wasn’t on target here but he won the penalty for the opener and then set up Mbuku to make it 2-0 late on. Ekitiké is certainly going to be one to watch in the years ahead.

THE STAT: 7

Julien Sablé has now taken charge of Saint-Etienne seven times and is still without a win, with two draws and five defeats across two separate spells.

>> Teamsheet