Saturday, 2 February 2019

Angers SCO 1 - 0 Dijon FCO

THE MATCH
Stéphane Moulin's men turned in a rock-solid performance to best rivals Dijon at the Stade Raymond Kopa on Saturday, keeping it simple and safe at the back to absorb their opponents' pressure before clinching the game by converting an early chance.

That their goal came from Stéphane Bahoken was little surprise. The Cameroon international had top-scored for the club with six goals in 19 appearances leading into the match, and his emphatic near-post header underlined his importance as the club's main man (28').

Dijon, meanwhile, have been undergoing something of a renaissance under new boss Antoine Kombouaré. Coming off a 6-3 hosing of Saint-Etienne in the Coupe de France and a 2-0 home win over Monaco in the league, they were surely hoping for better but were certainly lucky not to get worse as 'keeper Bobby Allain denied Bahoken, Flavien Tait, Wilfried Kanga and Farid El-Melali as the second half played out.

The win takes Angers to 13th, their highest ranking since early December, while Dijon slip back to 16th, undoing the good work done against direct relegation rivals Monaco and leaving them looking down the barrel of relegation, which is just two points below them.

THE PLAYER: Bobby Allain
The understudy to Runar Alex Runarsson until Week 16, 27-year-old Bobby Allain stepped up to the plate on Saturday, taking everything the Angers attack could throw at him and - in the second half at least - barely batting an eyelid, even though it was just his eighth start of the season.

THE STAT: 55.8%
Dijon's 55.% possession was just one of the many stats where they dominated hosts Angers. They out-passed them 444 to 350 and made 13 interceptions to the Scoïstes five while winning eight corners to four. Yet Angers had 12  chances to their five, 12 shots to their seven and - most importantly - one goal versus zero for Dijon. A testament to efficiency and the taking of chances.