Another poor performance at Stade Océane. One more. Faced with Rodez, this Saturday, the HAC had to settle for a poor draw (0-0). The stats of his last five games at home are chilling: no wins (3d and 2d) and only one goal scored.
The finding is recurring. Boring. Heartbreaking. Faced with an opponent with a very defensive profile, the people of Le Havre break their teeth. And yet, it’s not for lack of trying.
In an attempt to undermine an Aveyron team decimated by injuries, suspensions and the Covid, the Ciels and Marines have multiplied crosses and strikes. They fired fourteen times on goal, but only three of their attempts were on target. The most beautiful of them came just before half-time when Alioui, on receiving a cross from Cornette, forced M’Pasi to relax to deflect his superb acrobatic recovery.
Abline’s premiere didn’t change anything
A thinning in a soporific match. Clear chances were rare, and it was Rodez, in the end, who got the best of them on a shot from Dembélé deflected by Fofana on the outside of his right post (36th).
The entry into play in the second half of young Matthis Abline (18), who arrived this week on loan from Rennes, did not bring the expected boost. “I hope he will help us, he has the qualities, even if he was a little tense tonight, recognizes coach Paul Le Guen. But I didn’t ask him to do a festival when he first appeared. We will do everything to put him in a position to be effective.”
It’s long, but I’ll persist. Paul LeGuen
“Rodez played well. We made a lot of effort for little success.adds PLG. It’s hard to take, but admit that we are enterprising, but we are not aggressive enough, precise, in the finish. There, however, we were playing with three attackers, with Himad (Abdelli) in support and lane players who are free to attack, but we can’t do it. It’s long, but I’m going to persist.”
“I’m sure we’ll reverse the trend at home, and in a very short time“, wants to convince himself striker Nabil Alioui. It would be better at the risk of seeing the ambitions of the play-offs fly away. After 22 days, the HAC still occupies 6th place, two points behind 5th, Auxerre, which counts however two games behind.
Les Ciel and Marine will play their next match in Niort on Saturday 5 February.