Valenciennes

[Toadhall Saint]

8 minutes ago, ChristopheVAFC said:

Hello friend.

Firstly, congratulations for your Victory today !

Secondly, end of the match for Valenciennes.

Draw score: 1-1.

Good point versus 2nd of the championship.

Good evening everyone.

Well done on the draw. You have a great one too. 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

VA will be happy enough with an away point.

But both teams were very poor, and there for the taking.

VA went down to 10, when the home side hit an excellent ball through the high line of defence. Koum collided into the back of their through player. Not cynical, as their player made sure of the chance of contact, on the way to get the ball. But no arguments either.

VA then conceded a shocker. There's plenty of good reasons to play across the back. To switch the play; to maintain possession; to draw in your opponents. Not because you've no better ideas; when you're not organised; when you've already lost 1 center half and when 2 of the others are 2 feet apart. Cue losing possession, when Sochaux still have plenty in the half from their last attack (another reason not to do it), and going 1 down.

Sochaux really could have had a second. They hit the post and shot wide when a pass would have given them a tap in.

But then VA got an equaliser from a penalty. One of those where a player dips his head into a clearance, and gets a decision. Somewhere, during treatment and waiting for the spot kick to be taken, a second yellow was shown. Not sure if it was for persistent dissent. Appuah, on his way to his own second yellow before being subbed, put it in.

And that was it from both sides. Sochaux hit a post later with an effort from an angle. Other than that, it seemed the goals had been converted into barn doors, neither side could hit.

El Hadary came on, but was particularly poor.

One thing that did stand out, was Abu's good use of VA having a physical presence up front. he picked out sub Nyemb on a number of occasions. Good range and accuracy.

[ChristopheVAFC]

Quote

« Un match de bonhomme ! », ils les ont rendus fous, Valenciennes parfait dans l’art de gâcher la fête - La Voix du Nord

"A real man's game!" They drove them crazy, Valenciennes perfect at spoiling the party.

Shaken, reduced to ten men, and trailing in the first half, VA quickly equalized against a Sochaux side also down to ten men to take a point (1-1). And play a nasty trick on all their former players who thought they were taking a giant step towards Ligue 2.

The Sochaux players collapsed to the ground at the final whistle, under a barrage of rather harsh boos. The Valenciennes players, too, lay down on the Bonal pitch, exhausted from the long battle fought in the Doubs region. After all, perhaps the jeers of the 20,000 Sochaux fans were partly intended for them as well. What nerve, though, to come and spoil the party that everyone saw coming. Sochaux couldn't secure promotion with a win, but they would have taken a giant step towards Ligue 2. Except it's never a good idea to get ahead of yourself. Even if it's a local tradition, apparently, the fireworks for the players' entrance were perhaps a bit much.

Valenciennes, however, was largely blindsided by the joy of their former players. A packed, noisy, singing stadium, buzzing with excitement at returning to Ligue 2, is where Vincent Hognon, their former coach, shines this year, alongside Aymen Boutoutaou, dazzling in the first half, Julien Masson, suspended against Valenciennes, and Samy Baghdadi. Even if they only have themselves to blame for not being invited to join them on the promotion run, Valenciennes already had their fill last year of watching others celebrate their success. Boulogne and then Nancy, both future promoted sides, had come to celebrate at the Hainaut stadium at the end of the season. So, not seeing others celebrating a goal that Valenciennes couldn't achieve was a small consolation. And well deserved in this instance.

Grumpy Hognon, frustrated Mauricio

Because they had to dig deep during a first half that started poorly on all fronts: Alexi Koum was rightly sent off after just over fifteen minutes (17th minute), and Sochaux opened the scoring with a ruthless strike (30th minute). It was hard to imagine a more difficult situation. Then the halftime break proved to be the turning point: a more determined performance, quickly rewarded with a clear penalty, awarded to Bayanginisa for a red card (50th minute), which Stredair Appuah converted. That's how you change the momentum of a match. "The lads played like men, we played thirty minutes longer than them with one less player, I'm really proud of them," praised Pierre Blois.

Valenciennes' comeback surprised, and irritated, everyone in the Sochaux camp. "They were really motivated, they were wasting time," grimaced Vincent Hognon. You should have seen his assistant, former Valenciennes player Tony Mauricio, practically throwing a tantrum in the press box, frustrated by his team's inability to regain their attacking edge. But Valenciennes isn't on holiday yet and also thrives on pride against the top teams. "It was a good test for next season," emphasized Pierre Blois, "but I'm not worried about them, they'll get promoted." Not right away, anyway.

SOCHAUX – VALENCIENNES: 1-1 (1-0)

19,150 spectators

Goals: Djoco (30th minute) for Sochaux, Appuah (53rd minute, penalty)

Yellow cards: Bayanginisa (47th and 51st minutes), Vitelli (57th minute) for Sochaux; Appuah (53rd minute), Wahib (66th minute), El Hadary (74th minute) for Valenciennes

Sending off: Koum (17th minute) for Valenciennes; Bayanginisa (50th minute) for Sochaux

SOCHAUX: Pierre; N’Gata, Vitelli (captain) (Tavares 74th minute), Peybernes, Gomis; Mexique, Bayanginisa; Boutoutaou (Fofana 65th minute), Baghdadi (Youssouf 65th minute), Gomel; Djoco (Sidibe 81st minute). Foreign referee: Pierre Blois

VAFC: Louchet; Abu, Coeff, Landre, Koum; Rouai, Belloumou (cap) (Daubin (45th), K.Diomande (Wahib 24th), Courtet, Appuah (El Hadary 56th); Kouakou (Nyemb 70th). Etr: Pierre Blois