Lassine Sinayoko spearheading Auxerre’s survival bid with relentless work and end product | OneFootball

Lassine Sinayoko has 10 Ligue 1 goals, a career-best, spearheading Auxerre’s survival bid that could be sealed on Sunday at Lille or via a play-off with Saint-Étienne. According to L'Équipe, the Mali forward has set the tone for team-mates.

He leads Ligue 1 forwards for tackles, 41 attempted with 24 successful, ranks second for presses in the opposition half with 1,596, and third for shots plus final passes attempted with 129. He has had a hand in 16 of Auxerre’s 32 goals, including four assists and two forced own goals.

After scoring three in five at AFCON with Mali, he endured a tricky January but remains central to the effort. Coach Christophe Pelissier says he pushed to keep him last summer, often writes him first on the team sheet, and considers him among Ligue 1’s best forwards.

His leadership told before the 2-1 win over Nice on 10 May. Sinayoko accepted he had been struggling that night before converting the 70th-minute winner.

Auxerre aim to clinch safety at Lille, otherwise a play-off with Saint-Étienne awaits on Thursday and Sunday next week, the return at the Abbé-Deschamps. The 26-year-old has 30 Mali caps and 10 goals, joined at 18 in November 2017, and is under contract until 2027, with a move elsewhere possible afterwards.

Source: L'Équipe