Sporting club de Bastia looking for an offensive breakthrough

With 11 goals in 11 matches, Sporting is the team which has scored the least among the top 15 L2 teams. A statistic that weighs heavily, and prevents him from reaping the fruits of his impeccable commitment since the start of the season. Yesterday, in Caen, once again, the Blues failed to realize their domination.

“We lack the right gesture at the right time”. The observation, delivered by Benoît Tavenot at the end of the meeting, is obvious to anyone who attended this Caen – Bastia. And the statistics confirm it

16 shots were scored for Sporting on the pitch at the Stade Michel D'Ornano. But only one was on target. Opposite, Nicolas Seube's men only shot 6 times on goal. But all 6 attempts found the target. And 2 of them went to the bottom.

The SCB, however, started the meeting in the best possible mood. Determined to return to the victory that has eluded them since September 20, the Bastiais eleven take the game into their own hands. And Ducroq, Boutrah, Tramoni, who found the post, or even Guevara carry the danger in front of Yannis Clementia's cage. But the offensive desires of the Blues remain sterile.

Caen is not going to miss his chance. In the 31st minute of play, Mendy, against the flow of play, beat Placide (1 – 0). And gives a lesson in realism to the Bastiais.

However, the latter, following the momentum of their last match, against Rodez (2 – 2), remain combative. In the 42nd minute, following another island action, Lecoeuche touched the ball with his hand in the area. Benoît Tavenot's men, and the fifty supporters who had made the trip, saw it as an opportunity to come back to score, just before half-time.

The referee of the match, Ahmed Taleb, did not see the fault, and did not whistle a penalty. The two teams return to the locker rooms with a score of 1 – 0.

The second period will not allow the Bastiais to reverse the trend, despite Cissé's attempts, Akueson's header or Boutrah's shot deflected off the post…

In the end, Stade Malherbe de Caen, thanks to a free kick from Brahimi in the 57th minute, won 2 – 0.

If the Blues lacked realism, they also lacked success, and the defeat does not reflect the content of the match. “I am very disappointed for the players this evening,” believes Benoît Tavenot.

I have nothing to reproach my players

The Bastia coach knows how fragile the confidence of footballers in front of goal is. And that doubt, after six games without a victory, could do damage. So, in front of the press, he hammers home that it is not their qualities that are in question: “I have nothing to reproach my players. The concern today is outside of football. We must free the heads.”

And for this, Benoît Tavenot knows it, he must “find the levers. We are going to approach the week that opens, and the Laval match, differently.”

After this defeat for the Blues, only the second in 11 matches, the SCB is in 11th place, with a match late, the derby interrupted then postponed, against the ACA.