ASSE won against AJ Auxerre 3-1 yesterday. This victory increases the point counter to 7 in 7 matches. A rhythm which allows the people of Saint-Etienne to be on schedule in their maintenance objective. Obviously satisfied, Dennis Appiah spoke to France Bleu last night. Excerpts.
“It validates the point taken against Nantes” (Appiah after ASSE-AJA)
“It validates the point we took away against Nantes. I also think it’s a successful match. So it’s good to take three points, we had a successful match, but on the four last matches, we still take seven points out of twelve, so in the end, it’s not bad. We win our two matches at home, so no, it’s good to win. against a competing team, a direct competing team So there you have it, we’re really happy to have taken three points here. I think that in the way it was interesting.
We quickly won our duels, I have the impression, and then we quickly hurt them, especially in the back, which allows us to settle down and gain confidence. We also had a lot of chances in this match, which we didn’t do before, so that’s good. Then Davitashvili’s success. Zuka is capable of doing great things, already. Bordeaux hurt us last year. There, in these matches, he was a little less successful, but he manages to provoke a lot of things.
“I am happy for Zuka because since the start of the season it has been difficult for our attackers”
The ball being thrown, it’s difficult to read what it’s going to do, and it has to go a little in our favor. Until now, that hasn’t been the case, and now he’s scored three goals, so congratulations to him. Already, he’s a small size, but he stands strong on his legs. He’s hard to bring down. He has good technique. He is also capable of running quite fast and doing a series of high-intensity races. He’s not afraid to play, not afraid to take the ball. He is capable of provoking.
I’m happy for him because since the start of the season, he’s been working and everything, he hasn’t had a lot of balls. It was difficult for our attackers. It’s good for them, we’re happy for them.
I think the strength we had today was to win our duels, especially in midfield. We were very, very strong in midfield, but because we were strong for an hour, afterwards, in particular, our two recovery players were a little asphyxiated, a little tired, which meant that we started to to move back. So, we necessarily take this goal afterwards, because we take on a lot of situations. And then when the coach made the changes, it gave a little fresh air, a little energy, which meant that we started winning duels again. We started to keep the ball in the middle again, and inevitably, making them run after it, we got there.”
