The turning point of the game? In the 20th minute of the match between ASSE and Olympique de Marseille, Ibrahim Sissoko was stupidly sent off after elbowing Leonardo Balerdi in front of the referee of the match. Very quickly, the man in black, Jérémy Stinat, much criticized by the Saint-Etienne players at the end of the match, put his hand in his pocket and sent a red card to the center forward of the Greens. Thus, the latter leaves his partners numerically inferior for more than 70 minutes. And the magic of Christmas did not take place in the Cauldron and the Foréziens were swept away by the Phocaeans (0-4). In the locker room, the Malian international apologized to his partners.
“He understood the magnitude of his gesture”
Once the tension of the match had subsided, Ibrahim Sissoko quickly understood that he had just completely turned the match around. Laurent Huard, who was acting as interim manager before Eirik Horneland took over the Greens, was present at the press conference and admitted that his attacker had apologized to his teammates: “Ibrahim Sissoko? He apologized. He understood the extent of his action, his mistake. He said he didn't have to do that. He fell into the trap, it's done, It’s done, we’re not going to dwell on it.” From now on, ASSE must focus on the main mission since the comeback: to stay in Ligue 1! And it's still a long way from being done…
Also read:
ASSE – OM: strong words from De Zerbi on the fear of his players
ASSE – OM: the anger of Saint-Etienne supporters over the results
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To summarize
Foolishly excluded against Olympique de Marseille, Ibrahim Sissoko apologized to his partners. The AS Saint-Etienne striker was aware of his mistake which very probably turned the match around.
