PLAYER RATINGS | Saint-Étienne 1-0 Lille: Mathieu Cafaro’s strike secures victory over lethargic Lille | OneFootball

Ligue 1 McDonald’s, Round 4, 13/09/2024

AS Saint-Étienne collected their first points of the season as they recorded a 1-0 victory over a frustrated and tired-looking Lille OSC at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.

Saint-Étienne were the last team left to score in Ligue 1 as game week four rolled into action. However, their wait was soon to be over, as Mathieu Cafaro opened the scoring in the sixth minute. It was an incisive bit of attacking play as the hosts capitalised on a poor pass from Lucas Chevalier.

Dennis Appiah intercepted the ball heading it down to Zuriko Davitashvili. The Georgian winger was under immediate pressure from Alexsandro but he flicked the ball over the defender’s head before passing across the goal. Cafaro collected the ball and was able to set himself before firing his shot towards the right-hand corner – a fortunate deflection of Benjamin André helping to guide it on its way.

Lille stepped up the pressure. And there was no shortage of chances for the visitors as they controlled almost 70% possession. Appiah’s last-ditch intervention prevented Rémy Cabella from equalising before Gautier Larsonneur saved André’s header from the resulting corner. It felt like Lille were etching closer to the goal, but it was far from a one-sided game. Lille had to rely on Chevalier a couple more times to keep Cafaro from doubling the lead.

Saint-Étienne clung fiercely to their lead as the first half came to an end. Lille looked lethargic coming into the second act. Saint-Étienne pushed higher up the pitch looking to keep their visitors from coming close to the goal. By the 57th minute, Bruno Génésio had seen enough and made three big changes to his Lille side.

Jonathan David, Osame Sahraoui, and Angel Gomes came on for Ayyoub Bouaddi, Cabella, and Mohamed Bayo. However, little changed for Lille, Chevalier kept his side in the game making an important one-on-one save against Lucas Stassin. And the goal seemed impossible to find. Even David had no luck. The striker coming close when he broke past the defensive line but sliced his shot high and wide.

In the 83rd minute, Lille would record one last excellent chance as substitute Mitchel Bakker rushed into the box but fired the ball straight at Larsonneur to the dismay of David. There was still time for Davitashvili to threaten Chevalier’s goal but the Georgian winger saw his shot trickle wide.

Lille Player Ratings

Lucas Chevalier, 6 – Vital for Lille. The goalkeeper could do little to stop Saint-Étienne’s early opener but he prevented the hosts from capitalising on some worrying defensive lapses that could have made a frustrating evening far more painful.

Alexsandro, 4

Bafodé Diakité, 4

Thomas Meunier, 5

Gabriel Gudmundsson, 5

Ayyoub Bouaddi, 5

Benjamin André, 5

Tiago Santos, 5 – The wing-back was taken off early for Matias Fernandez-Pardo. Santos started brightly but by the time his evening came to an end, his output had faded significantly.

Rémy Cabella, 4

Mohamed Bayo, 4

Edon Zhegrova, 5 – A strange week for the Kosovian international where he was sent home early from his national side. The winger failed to leave his usual impression on the game. There were the usual flashes of inspiration but they became more and more isolated, as Zhegrova struck an isolated figure.

Saint-Étienne selected player ratings

Dennis Appiah, 6

Zuriko Davitashvili, 7 – He might not have recorded his name on the score sheet but he was by far the most exciting player on the pitch. The ex-Bordeaux man looks an astute signing and the player who could provide Saint-Étienne with their attacking thrust in their first season back in the top flight.

Mathieu Cafaro, 6

GFFN | Nick Hartland