Half an hour all fired up, then a dull hour. The FCSM match this Saturday night could be summed up like this. In the first third of the match, the Yellow and Blue outrageously dominated. But from this half hour only a one-goal lead emerged, due in particular to a missed penalty by Maxime Do Couto, who then opened the scoring. Amiens, shy but effective, equalized, then folded shop.
The FCSM was reduced offensively this Saturday, and failed to find the resource needed to ram Amiens. Sochaux skates again at home against a team from the second part of the table. But without much consequence, for the moment, in the classification.
Do Couto, the roller coaster
Without Mauricio and Kitala, suspended, Omar Daf returned to a classic 4-2-3-1. Weissbeck as a master to play, Kalulu at the forefront, Virginius and Do Couto on the sides. It was the latter who was the man of this first half hour.
After a collision by Amiens defender Pavlovic on Virginius, Sochaux gets a penalty at the start of the match (6′). But Maxime Do Couto’s shot, full axis and neither high nor low enough, found Gurtner’s foot.
A real missed opportunity to simplify life, but the Yellow and Blue continued to harass the Amiens defense. This one ended up flinching in the 21st, on a wonderful strike from the same Do Couto.
What to confirm an exciting start to the game, and which continued for a few more minutes with several beautiful Sochaux situations.
“When we do a first half hour like that, we have to kill the game”
But after half an hour, Sochaux left the ball to his opponent. Amiens did not ask for so much, and on their only real chance, the Picards equalized with another splendid shot from Aliou Badji, slightly deflected by Pogba (39′). In the second half, a tactical reorganization allowed the 13th in the standings to enhance the debates. The FCSM continued to be enterprising, got a few chances, but it was not enough. Including in the last 10 minutes, during which Amiens finished at 10.
“It’s frustrating to have made so much effort, to have made the start that we did. We did not know how to concretize this first half hour” breathed Omar Daf after the meeting.
“When we do a first half hour like that, we really have to kill the game“regrets Gaëtan Weissbeck for his part.”The most frustrating thing is producing such and failing to kill the match. But the match itself remains very coherent, even if we don’t have the three points.”
Omar Daf also indirectly referred to the absence of offensive reinforcements this winter. Without Kitala or Tebily, Niane having left, Aldo Kalulu was the only striker on the scoresheet.
“What was missing in the second half were forces. Starting a match with a single striker is complicated. We saw it in the second half, when Amiens put in their vital forces, they remain conquerors. We put in a lot of effort at the start of the game, then it evened out. This was played on the quality of their workforce, which is more substantial than ours, quite simply.“
The Sochaux coach also underlined “naivety” who was able to accompany the rest of the match in his troops, with several badly negotiated situations.
When a part of Bonal whistles…
Several times, whistles have also descended from the stands of the Bonal stadium. _“It was hard for us to be whistled tonight”Weissbeck acknowledged.“There was a big burst of energy from the whole group, so it was not easy to take being whistled. But that’s how it is, I hope that in the next match they will will encourage a little more.”_
“Even if there were whistles, we continued to remain consistent. I prefer to retain the positive” philosophized Omar Daf. “It’s a job where you put on a show. For half an hour, against a great team from Amiens, we showed great things. We couldn’t make the difference. It’s a shame. We’re disappointed. to take only one point, but we will continue.”
New points lost at home
Amiens had fine offensive weapons, even if they were not always well exploited. The Picards are in the second part of the table, and perhaps their ranking does not necessarily reflect their real level. This Ligue 2 is tough, every game is a fight, and the positions are very tight. A “crazy” and “exciting” championship detailed Omar Daf before the meeting.
But after a draw (0-0) at Dunkirk (19th), Sochaux did not bounce back. After this draw, difficult not to think back to the points lost at home against Nîmes (0-1), Quevilly (1-1) and Valenciennes (1-1) in the first part of the season.
Sochaux still fourth
In the standings, the good news of the evening comes on the other hand from the result of Auxerre, which brings back a draw from Guingamp. Le Havre also takes only one point from Niort. In front, Toulouse takes a little more off. The Sochaux supporters will watch the last meeting of this 23rd day with great attention: the second Ajaccio receives the third, Paris FC.
Next meeting for the Yellow and Blue Saturday February 12 in Grenoble. Another poorly ranked (18th), before stringing together matches against Ajaccio, Paris FC and Auxerre in a few weeks.