Le Havre stuck on two goals after four matches as misfiring attack persists | OneFootball

Le Havre’s familiar early-season drought persists. After four Ligue 1 outings they have only two goals and two points, sitting 16th on Sunday morning following a 0-0 with Angers.

Matchday one brought a 0-1 defeat to Monaco, VAR cancelling Amir Richardson’s equaliser for a tight offside. In the second week at Lyon, Ally Samatta’s header earned a 1-1 draw, though Sota Nakamura had a stoppage-time finish wiped out for a Josh Maja handball at the start of the move. Rassoul Ndiaye also struck a post at the Groupama Stadium.

On the third matchday, Rayan Fofana converted a penalty in a 1-2 loss to Brest. Le Havre entered the area repeatedly without real menace and Junior Mwanga was sent off just before the interval.

Against Angers, the finishing issues remained. Samatta lost a first-minute duel to Anthony Lopes, who intervened twice more at 45+1, and the Tanzanian hit a post before Nakamura’s effort was ruled offside at 40.

The numbers underline it. Six efforts were on target to SCO’s one, yet few truly tested the goalkeeper.

Head coach Didier Digard judged this the least complete display, arguing the team drifted from the depth runs that underpinned a bright start and, with very attacking profiles, lacked both ball recovery and control. He also pointed to a squad in flux, with Maja and Nakamura delayed by visa processes, and expects cohesion to come with time rather than magic. A trip to Toulouse awaits next Saturday at 20:45, then a long break he believes could help, provided they avoid entering it in the red zone.

Source: L'Équipe

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”