‘I didn’t recognise the players’ – Nice and Saint-Étienne register 0 shots on target in low-quality affair | OneFootball

There was a lot of tension in the air but not a lot of quality. AS Saint-Étienne hosted OGC Nice in the first leg of the Ligue 1 promotion/ relegation play-off on Tuesday night. 

To say that the two teams neutralised each other is an understatement. Across 103 minutes of football, there was not one single shot on target. Les Verts, notably, didn’t even get a shot away in the opposition box, which has only happened to them twice in the past 20 years.

As per Opta stats (via L’Équipe), the two teams only accumulated 0/41xG. That is the lowest combined figure in a match in Ligue 1, Ligue 2, or a promotion/ relegation play-off in the past four seasons. “I didn’t recognise the players,” said Nice co-president Jean-Pierre Rivere post-match. “Once again, you feel as though the players are fearful.”

It means that both teams head to the Allianz Riviera on Friday with the scores level and the final place in next season’s Ligue 1 all to play for. The game will take place behind closed doors.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle