It's a breakdown perhaps commensurate with the tension that reigned in this meeting. While his Girondins de Bordeaux team lost this Saturday evening against AS Saint-Étienne (2-1), 11 against 10 and while leading 1 goal to 0 on the Greens' field, Albert Riera allegedly slapped a Saint-Etienne player after the final whistle of the match counting for the 33rd day of Ligue 2, while scuffles broke out between players and staff of the two teams.
No images have been leaked from the scene. It was reported in confusion by the broadcaster, BeIN Sports, and the on-field journalist Margot Dumont while several Greens were arguing with the Navy and Whites at the end of the match. “Albert Riera still slapped a player, I don’t have the identity of the player but it was seen,” she reported. He completely lost his temper. » Subsequently, Riera refused to come and speak on the channel's microphone, but did so at a press conference.
A laconic and mysterious explanation: “Everything that is said on the ground stays on the ground. Whatever happens in Las Vegas, stays in Las Vegas. » Quite annoyed, the Spanish coach mainly remembered one thing from the meeting: “Today for me, we were better than ASSE, but we lost. You can write it big. »
A brilliant double from Cardona in added time
However, it was his team that lost and in a rather inglorious way. In an already electric match, the Stéphanois found themselves at 10 after the exclusion of Nadé after a general brawl. The Bordelais, who had opened the scoring through Diaz (42nd) only had to maintain this score, and could even have made the break on a missed opportunity by Vipotnik, launched from 30 m in front of the empty goal. But that was without counting on a brilliant Irvin Cardona, author of a double in added time (90th + 1, 90th + 5), with an absolutely brilliant second goal.
The long communion of joy of the Saint-Etienne players with their supporters, drunk with happiness on the second goal of the French striker, was the measure of what this victory meant for the Greens: keeping alive the hope of a direct rise in Ligue 1. ASSE is currently 3rd in Ligue 2 with 57 points, one length behind Angers (58 pts) and four behind Auxerre (61 pts).