Saint-Etienne to face Metz with final Ligue 1 spot on the line | OneFootball

The two-legged Ligue 1 playoff rounds will see AS Saint-Etienne locking horns with FC Metz for the final spot in the French top flight. Les Verts ended the Ligue 2 season in third place, which meant they hosted Rodez this Friday. Rodez, who finished fourth, defeated fifth-placed Paris FC this Tuesday on penalties, despite Rodez missing their first three attempts from the spot kick.

Spurred on by a buoyant Geoffroy-Guichard Chaudron, Saint-Etienne have dominated the Aveyron side. At the hour mark, Irvin Cardona opened the scoring with a glorious header at the near post. In injury time, Augsburg loanee Nathanaël Mbuku called the game with a solo run concluded by a chip out of Ewen Jaouen’s reach.

Saint-Etienne, which have confirmed takeover talks with Ivan Gazidis’ Kilmer Sports Ventures, will host Metz, who finished this season’s Ligue 1 in the 16th place. The first leg will be played next Thursday, at Geoffroy-Guichard. The return leg will be held at Metz’s Stade Saint-Symphorien the following Sunday, June 2nd. Saint-Etienne and Metz have not faced one another since the 2022-2023 Ligue 2 season, when Les Grenats gained promotion. Next week, one of those clubs will have to settle for the second tier again.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval