Despite his desire to end the calendar year well, the Dijon FCO unfortunately suffered the FC law Espaly in Auvergne, after being reduced to 10 shortly before half-time. A notable poor performance in the 32nd round French Cup, at an N3 enthusiast.
THE MATCH
FC Espaly – Dijon FCO : 1-1 (4-3 TAB)
At the Stade du Viouzou (Espaly-Saint-Marcel), December 20, 2024, kick-off at 8:45 p.m.
Buts : Gjeçi (73rd) for the FCE / Lembezat (70th) for the DFCO.
Warning : Russo (45th) for the FCE.
Expulsion : Vargas-Rios (44th) for the DFCO.
- 6th: the first opportunity is for the locals who, without complexes, force Montfort to parry a powerful strike from Fournel.
- 19th: Lucas Russo is not attacked and can appear at the entrance to the area. His shot escapes the frame.
- 21st: Schur imitates his opponent at mid-distance but sees his attempt blocked by Espaly's defense.
- 40th: just after a hot situation for Dijon, it was the Auvergne amateurs who created the most danger with a free kick kicked by Uzun, narrowly wide of our post.
- 43rd: Rayan Souici places a header off target from a free kick from Vargas-Rios, Dijon has still not found the target…
- 44th: after a foul by Russo, Vargas-Rios is punished with a red card for having lost his nerve and reacting badly, according to reports…
- 54th: if Dijon is doing strangely better since the expulsion, the FCE remains threatening with a shot from Mezaber which however goes too high.
- 59th: Duville-Parsemain's completely failed attempt fails far, very far from the Espaviote cages. We could laugh about it if the situation wasn't so tense.
- 70th: finally, here is a goal in transition from the DFCO, scored by Delicious Adel which was found by Meyer with a superb pass from the outside of the foot. The finish is clever (0-1).
- 73rd: unfortunately, the Burgundians break down immediately and see the Albanian Kevis Gjeci set the record straight. Diallo, among others, must do much better (1-1).
- 87th: a new strike from the home team shakes the DFCO defense, but Lenny Montfort seizes it without too much difficulty.
- 95th: big opportunity at the end of the match for Rayan Souici, who is denied the path to the goal at the last moment!
- TAB: after two penalties missed by the Dijonnais against only a save from Montfort, it is the players of FC Espaly who celebrate a very beautiful and deserved victory over their professional counterparts, as well as a qualification for the round of 16 (1-1, 4-3 TAB) !
How to lose your mind
There was reason to be frustrated for both the supporters and the DFCO players after this “trap” Coupe de France match in Espaly, on a very damaged pitch and not very conducive to football. But between the slips and the Dijon shots (which could be counted on the fingers of one hand), our team would have done better to keep a cool head and not give in to the tension of the match. Because if Dijon did not play well in the first act, the largely avoidable red card addressed to HVR greatly complicated the mission of the group, which should not, however, look for excuses as the coach says. Especially since after having done the hardest part, the Dijonnais (who have the best defense in the National Championship) gave up their lead due to an individual as well as a collective error, leaving Gjeçi to reverse the trend while qualification was getting considerably closer.
During the penalty shootout, Lenny Montfort managed to save Duville-Parsemain who had not managed to get past the opposing goalkeeper, before Souici scared us with a shot which only came in with the help of the Saint -Spirit. But the fatal blow finally arrived when Yanis Chahid also missed his attempt, for the second time in his career in a penalty shootout with the professionals. On the first, Baptiste Ridira was already present… on the bench of the opposing team. And suddenly, an enchanted parenthesis turns into a moment to forget. A dream of a great poster for Gaston-Gérard in pitiful elimination at a hierarchically inferior club, like in Cannes (2021) or Saint-Pryvé (2022).
A year 2024 that ends badly
We cannot really take stock of this very special National championship, which only has 17 teams and which still has late matches like that of Nancy, which will have the chance to play again against Aubagne despite its 4-0 defeat in due to an error on the match sheet. Not everyone has played each opponent and our observation could be different when arriving at the midpoint, after having played 16 matches, if the DFCO were to count 6 more points or on the contrary found themselves 9 lengths from 3rd place . But while the season started slightly poorly, the team was able to find its rhythm and only fell against Valenciennes before experiencing a very unimpressive month of December (1D, 2L). A period marred by two expulsions of senior players in the first halves, with only one small goal scored by the Burgundians. The truce comes at just the right time.
Especially since everything is not to be thrown away, far from it, but the team seems to be slightly sticking its tongue out at the end of the year. Without Marié (suspended 2 matches) nor Vargas-Rios (who will certainly miss at least 2 or 3 given the speed of the referee in bringing out the red this Friday, for “brutality” probably), Dijon will have to remobilize and count on other personalities in midfield to make differences now. But also renew themselves to be much more dangerous and score more regularly, whether by relying on the current squad or on the transfer market. Despite everything, Lembezat seems to be gaining in confidence, Meyer still needs to get on track and young Djaé has not yet said his last word, to name but a few. Let's hope that coach Baptiste Ridira finds solutions so that this poor form and these handicaps are only a distant memory, from the next day of the championship against very worrying Castelroussins.
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