Valenciennes

[Holmes_and_Watson]

Orleans 1 up at half time. VA defender tried to chest it back to the keeper. Orleans I tercepted the ball, and passed it into the centre to be put in.

Saying Orleans looked likely from that flank would be overstating it. They had a couple of glimpses, as they had a glimpse on the break once. Louchet hasn't had much to do.

Not that VA have been miles better, but we're clearly the dominant team. They started with, and maintained, more urgency than usual. Having Abi once again gives more of a focal point. 

A nice through ball to Courtet on 20, resulted in a ball across to Abi, only for the Orleans defender to get to the it first. A strong header went over around 30, to be followed by another header, on 36 hitting the bar. 

Courtet was left in the middle of the box a few mins before the break. He chested it down, only to snatch it wide. He had a lot more time and space than he thought. He had snatched an effort well wide earlier on, after it had rebounded to him. 

VA have to at least keep their pace for the second half. We've seen heads drop before, after defensive errors. There's no need for it, as there's plenty of time to turn things round.

[ChristopheVAFC]

Well... It's been a difficult week right to the end...

I couldn't go to the stadium and didn't see the match, but unfortunately we lost again tonight...

Valenciennes 0-1 Orleans...

 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

VA fail to find the gear to drive to success.

VA motor to towards the foot of the table.

Taxi for SR!

Oh, the motor puns are all there to celebrate Toyota's links with the club.

VA came out brightly enough in the second half. Abi managed a couple of touches, to get it under control through on goal only to put it wide. El Hadary took an extra touch before shooting, where an earlier effort looked more likely. At the other end Orleans found themselves through on goal, a good dribble through the defence going wide.

The game began to dip after that. Moulin brought on 3 subs on 65 and another 2 on 75. An Abi effort is the only thing that comes to mind.

VA have struggled to look coherent with the basics this season. It's no surprise that they always look worse when they chase the game, and have too many attackers on.

Our Rento was one of those coming on in the 75th minute. His effort was put off by Abi being in close proximity. The longer it went, you could see it weighing on the players. They're all too familiar with this.

With VA pushing up, Orleans had a couple of breaks, but couldn't take advantage of any of them. They preferred to manage the game by milking each foul and goal kick. This always infuriates Courtet, so often trying to get VA back into a game. So, he picked up a yellow again for that.

Big boos at half time, and more boos at full time.

A broader picture is that VA had chances to win it, only to be undone by another defensive blunder. There were positives. But clutching at them, considering VA's resources, doesn't reflect well on SR.