Hwang Ui-jo scored twice as Girondins de Bordeaux ground out a 2-1 victory away to AS Saint-Etienne in torrential rain on Saturday to claim their first win of the campaign.
AS Saint-Etienne 1-2 Girondins de Bordeaux
THE MATCH
These two great clubs have 16 league titles between them but both are going through difficult times on and off the field just now and both came into this match at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in the relegation zone and looking for a first win of the season.
It was Bordeaux who drew first blood, going ahead in the seventh minute when Jean Onana released Yacine Adli and he squared to leave Hwang with a simple finish. That silenced the Saint-Etienne fans who were hoping their team would mark the 90th anniversary of the opening of Le Chaudron with a win.
The hosts did have chances to draw level before the break, with Denis Bouanga dragging a shot wide, Yvan Neyou forcing a save from Benoît Costil, Romain Hamouma missing the target from an excellent position and then Wahbi Khazri seeing his low strike turned behind just before the interval.
The heavens open
The second half was conditioned by the weather, as an apocalyptic rainstorm left the pitch almost unplayable. The game did go on, though, and Saint-Etienne continued to push forward in search of an equaliser which finally arrived in the 73rd minute when Khazri got the better of Edson Mexer in the box and found the far corner of the net from a tight angle.
Bordeaux were on the back foot but they managed to take the lead again with 10 minutes remaining as substitute Rémi Oudin set up Hwang and he picked his spot past Etienne Green with an excellent first-time finish. That made it 2-1, and this time Bordeaux held on, although only after Timothée Pembélé cleared off the line from Harold Moukoudi right at the death.
It is a first win for Les Girondins under their new coach Vladimir Petkovic and they move off the bottom of the table, climbing above their still winless opponents.
THE PLAYER: Hwang Ui-jo
The South Korean international was Bordeaux’s leading scorer last season with 12 goals. That led to speculation that he might depart in the summer in order to raise much-needed funds at the Matmut Atlantique. But in the end he stayed put and here he scored his first two goals of this season to give his club a huge three points.
THE STAT: 2,500
This was Saint-Etienne’s 2,500th game in the top flight of French football, a landmark that only Olympique de Marseille and Bordeaux have previously reached.
