After an evening rich in emotions, the first victory of AS Nancy Lorraine this season obtained on Saturday against Guingamp (2-1) was marked by a new expulsion of Giovanni Haag. The Lorrain received a fourth red card in twelve days. Before this new expulsion, he held this record with Hervé Lybohy (Paris FC) and Massamba Sambou (Châteauroux). If we count the number of matches played by the native of Metz, that makes four red cards in seven games played. After Pau (1st day), Valenciennes (4th) and Dunkirk (7th), it is therefore against the Guingampais that the versatile Lorraine midfielder once again stood out in front of his supporters at Marcel-Picot. In the 75th minute of the game,the young player repositioned in central defense makes a badly controlled tackle on his opponent Youssouf M'Changama (the Costarmorican went out on a stretcher) on the right side of the Nancy penalty area.
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A referee he knows well
After this foul, the match referee Marc Bollengier gave him a direct red card.
An air of déjà vu since the official had already sent off Haag at the start of the season.
At the end of the meeting, the player of AS Nancy Lorraine did not wish to speak.
At a press conference, his coach Benoît Pedretti returned to the facts and the indiscipline of his player that has characterized him since the start of the season.
“
Giovanni is naturally aggressive on the pitch.
I told him to be careful.
That it was the same referee who had excluded him from Pau […] He knows it, he must be calmer and above all more positive
», Explained the Lorraine coach.
Haag, who saw his teammates hold the scoring and win their first game of the season on Saturday after his umpteenth expulsion, will be automatically suspended for the next league meeting against AC Ajaccio on 23 October.
A passage in Corsica before returning to Nancy
Able to evolve as a central defender or a midfielder, Giovanni Haag (1st selection with the French U19 team) is currently playing his second consecutive season with the Nantes club after being loaned in January 2020 to the Corsican club Gazélec Ajaccio.
In search of playing time to revive, the young player returned to Lorraine six months later.
In the summer of 2020, he signed his first professional contract with AS Nancy Lorraine.
Last year, during the 2020-2021 season, Giovanni Haag scored four goals and has never been sent off in 30 games played.
What to wonder about the state of physical and mental form of the player as we arrive in the second third of the season.