Saint-Etienne relegated to Ligue 2, Reims to face Metz in the playoffs either side of the Coupe de France final | OneFootball

Saint-Etienne have been relegated to Ligue 2 on the back of their 3-2 home loss against Toulouse. Les Verts have finished the season in 17th place, and they will accompany bottom-placed Montpellier in the second tier next season. Les Verts were under pressure right away as Toulouse raced to a 2-0 lead courtesy of Warren Kamanzi and Joshua King. Florian Tardieu and Dylan Batubinsika both halved the deficit, but Yann Gboho’s goal proved the winner for Toulouse. A year after their Ligue 1 promotion, Les Verts are now down to Ligue 2 as they gathered only 30 points.

In an unlikely turn of events, Reims will play Metz in the playoff rounds. The Champagne side has fallen to 16th place after their 2-1 away loss to Lille. But at Strasbourg, Le Havre pulled off an unbelievable win. Andrey Santos gave the hosts the lead before Abdoulaye Touré restored parity before half-time. Sebastian Nanasi eventually gave Strasbourg their lead back, but Josué Casimir scored to bring both sides level.

Eventually, Touré stepped up in the 99th minute to score a penalty for Le Havre. The Normans have therefore leapfrogged Reims at the death to maintain their Ligue 1 status. Reims now have three games in eight days to define their season.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval