An interim will not have done anything.
Only a few days after the ousting of Claude Puel from his post as coach of AS Saint-Etienne, his ephemeral replacement Julien Sablé could only suffer the stagnation of his team, Saturday, on the lawn of the Stade de Reims (1-0).
A fourth setback for the Greens who sink a little more to last place in the championship (12 points), while the Rémois remain 14th in Ligue 1 (22 pts), after 18 days.
Put in difficulty from the start of the game, the players of "Sainté" experienced their first blow during an uncontrolled intervention by their goalkeeper Etienne Green.
Bringing down the young Reims striker Hugo Ekitike (19), the Saint-Etienne goalkeeper caused a penalty, perfectly converted by El Bilal Touré (23rd, 1-0).
Logic respected.
Bouanga sees red
If, with 11 players on the field, the Stéphanois were already under attack from the locals, the physiognomy of their game did not evolve in the right direction in numerical inferiority.
Frustrated by the performance of his team, Denis Bouanga let himself be overwhelmed, just before the break, by bringing his hand to the face of the Reims midfielder Ilan Kebbal.
Immediate sanction: red card (45th).
Resistant and courageous, the Greens, who did not frame any shot, finally cracked in the 89th minute.
On a caviar from the very prominent Hugo Ekitike, Nathanaël Mbuku did not hesitate to deceive Stefan Bajic from the penalty spot (2-0), destroying the meager hopes of Saint-Etienne to return to the brand.
"Denis (Bouanga) must be more mature," sighs Wahbi Khazri at the microphone of Canal +.
We have to remain united, we fight with courage, with character, but it's complicated.
We will have to react because we are in danger and we have to show something else.
We must do more and better, with the head.
We are going to hang on, not to let go, but we must react.
We didn't deserve to win clearly.
It's going to be a complicated season, we are aware of it but we will not have to give up.
"
Four years after his first interim (4 defeats, 2 draws), Julien Sablé has therefore returned to service for a once again negative result.
The Greens' bench should soon welcome a new coach.
Discussions are in any case underway.
