Stade de Reims could have fallen into the trap of complacency. The one who can sometimes lie in wait for a collective that thrives. Building on the good point won against Paris Saint-Germain at Delaune (1-1), the Rémois not only maintained their good momentum this Sunday, September 29 (1-3).
Traveling to Angers, Luka Elsner’s men undoubtedly played their most accomplished collective score since the start of this 2024-25 financial year. This duel, Emmanuel Agbadou’s partners mastered it, outclassing a Sco who was often very difficult to watch, except in the last moments of a game on which the Rouge et Blanc had already placed an attractive paw for a long time and authoritarian.
“Being well positioned should strengthen our confidence but should not blind us”
It’s very simple, there was never any suspense. The Stade de Reims turned on the light from the start and only turned it off sparingly in the final, which deprived it of a first clean sheet when Zinedine Ferhat softened the score for her team (84e). Previously, Yehvann Diouf had not had much to do, because the collective in front of him showed themselves to be intractable and inspired.
After a performance full of self-sacrifice against PSG, the Marnais this time added the offensive string to their bow, scoring three goals when they could easily have scored double, as there were so many opportunities. “Our start is in the right tone, and answers very well the question of a possible relaxation. We left no room for doubt regarding that,” underlines the Reims coach, Luka Elsner.
Keito Nakamura, scorer for the third time in as many matches, quickly put his team on the right track (9e0-1). His compatriot Junya Ito then imitated him, taking advantage of the generosity of a beleaguered Angevin defense (25e0-2). Then Marshall Munetsi, not very keen on Yahia Fofana before, ended up being rewarded for his insistence (79e0-3). Three achievements stamped with the seal of audacity, opportunism and application.
“When the mentality responds, we manage to apply things on the ground that are really coherent. A very complete match from the boys, Luka Elsner still enjoys. The end, obviously we’ll come back to it but it’s hard to blame them. We come to the point that it’s an anecdote, and that means that the match was good. » Enough to string together a fifth duel in a row without defeat, and climb further in the rankings. Here is the Stade de Reims fourth after six days, and it is necessarily to be noted. “We should be happy about that. Being well positioned should strengthen our confidence but should not blind us, recalls Luka Elsner. Our collective ego and individual egos will have to get back to work and maintain our initial humility, which was to prepare as much as possible for each meeting and leave nothing to chance. »
A way of reminding his troops that it is necessary “keep a cool head”. Without forgetting to savor the path already covered, because it really looks good.
