Racing delivered two very different halves. There were several clear chances in the first half, but neither Gameiro, nor Bellegarde, nor Liénard failed to conclude. Then the Strasbourg residents dropped in intensity and could have lost at the end of the game. They remain fifth in Ligue 1, but the pack of pursuers is getting closer. Without Thomasson and Prcić (injured in the knee and left after 20 minutes of play), Racing is not quite the same team.
– The Strasbourg coach Julien Stephan : “There were two very distinct halves. A first where we were enterprising and this from the start of the game. We took control of the game, we were intense both in recovering the ball and in the use, we created big situations for ourselves. The regret about this match comes from the fact that we did not go into the locker room with a score advantage. We must be able to lead 1 or 2 to 0 and the dynamics of the match would have been completely different.
In the second half, it was more complicated. The block was more distended, we were less efficient in almost all the parameters of the game. Compared to our 2nd half, we have to be able to be satisfied with this point against a team that sold its skin dearly. It’s the seventh game of the cycle, we feel we need to regenerate. We will take advantage of the first week of the break to be able to do it and then go back to these last nine games which are super exciting and interesting to play.
– Racing striker Kevin Gameiro : “We have regrets about the first half because we created a lot of danger on the opposing goal. We lacked efficiency and aggression in front of goal. I missed two chances, especially the second, where I I wanted to steal the ball and I completely tore myself, I messed up my dive. The efficiency we had at the start of the season, we have less of it in the last games. It’s part of a season, we have more difficult times for us attacking players, but as long as we have this defensive solidity and we don’t lose, that’s the most important thing”.
Kevin Gameiro did not experience the return he hoped for at the Moustoir stadium. The top scorer in the history of Lorient in Ligue 1 (50 goals) was active as usual, but he missed the essential, finding the net. The Racing center-forward was blocked from the start in a good position by Thomas Monconduit, then he crushed a shot too much when he had been launched well in depth by Ludovic Ajorque. Less visible in the second period, he created a last clear chance on his own on the hour mark, but he completely missed his dive attempt. Like his teammates in attack (Ludovic Ajorque hasn’t scored for 696 minutes now), Kevin Gameiro no longer has the efficiency that allowed him to string together goals at the start of 2022.
For the seventh time in eleven meetings Since the start of 2022, Strasbourg goalkeeper Matz Sels has not conceded a goal in a Ligue 1 match. Racing’s defense has become an impassable fortress. In total, it is the 11th Strasbourg clean sheet this season.