There was no separating AS Saint-Etienne and LOSC on Sunday night, with Wahbi Khazri's first-half penalty cancelled out by Jonathan Ikoné's second-half effort in an entertaining 1-1 draw.
AS Saint-Etienne 1-1 LOSC
THE MATCH
Saint-Etienne welcomed Lille to the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard without a win in seven Ligue 1 Uber eats games, but they started brightly with Khazri attempting to catch Mike Maignan out with a shot from a tight angle (4'). A Mahdi Camara cross intended for Khazri soon after fell to Miguel Trauco, and the Peruvian thought he might score his first ASSE goal since November 2019 with a piledriver of a shot, but Maignan did well to deflect the chance wide (13'). Sainté carried a deserved lead into half-time, though. Midway through the half referee Benoît Bastien whistled for a penalty after Domagoj Bradaric had obstructed Khazri in the box, and the Tunisia forward stepped up to stroke his spot-kick beyond Maignan's outstretched arm (27'). The hosts might even have been further clear before the break when Romain Hamouma broke the offside trap, but he came off second-best in his one-on-one with the Lille shot-stopper (38').
Les Dogues bite back
LOSC came out with plenty of attacking intent after the restart, but Saint-Etienne - and in particular Denis Bouanga - did a good job of running them down at first. The visitors kept pressing, though, and Burak Yilmaz had Maignan's opposite number Jessy Moulin scrambling with a free-kick which sailed narrowly wide (49'). Benjamin André was then only denied an equalising goal by the crossbar after meeting Isaac Lihadji's corner (61') before Ikoné made it 1-1, the left-footed France midfielder steering the ball beyond Moulin after Yilmaz had cleverly knocked down a Bradaric cross (62'). Yilmaz felt Luiz Aruajo should have slipped him through for a chance late on but instead the Brazilian blazed an effort off target (83') and it ended all square.
THE PLAYER: Domagoj Bradaric
He may have been culpable for the penalty but Bradaric was a constant menace down Saint-Etienne's right-hand side and it is difficult to imagine they would have got back in the match without the Croatian's influence. He and Reinildo shared left-back duties last season, but Bradaric - up to three assists for the season - now looks like the undisputed first choice
THE STAT: 93
They may be disappointed to have drawn, but Lille are now undefeated in 14 of their last 15 Ligue 1 Uber Eats matches stretching back into last season - 93 percent of their games over the period. Paris Saint-Germain are are two points clear at the top, but the ability to dig deep, as evidenced here, is why LOSC are their nearest challengers this term.
