To say that the weeks are all the same is not enough to tell the story of FC Martigues’ start to the season. The Provençaux didn’t just take another beating (6-0), the most stinging of the season this Tuesday in Metz: they almost identically copied the scenarios that caused their loss against Grenoble (0-4) and Pau (3-0), but this time against regulars from the professional world.
Certainly, after four defeats in five games, the rout of the Blood and Gold in a Saint-Symphorien that still smells a little of Ligue 1, seemed relatively predictable. Thierry Laurey had even anticipated the strengths of the Grenats by insisting on the “small builds, skilled in tight spaces and players who played in Ligue 1 last year“.
Bingo. Cheikh Sabaly (1.68m), slipped between the listless Martigues defenders to score his hat-trick, which ended with a goal… with a header. Experienced Matthieu Udol, the Lorraine captain with 97 appearances in the elite, scored a double and an assist (he’s a left-back…).
And as they have become inexplicably accustomed to, poor Jérémy Aymes’ teammates began the match with half an hour of looking the new leader straight in the eye… until yet another generous gift from the Martigues team cut the Southerners’ legs and pumped up the Lorrainers who would never have dared to ask for so much. Mahamé Sidy dithered (35), delivered an extraordinary assist to his opposing striker to open the scoring, then everything changed. The attacks continued on a team once again reduced to impotence, which conceded its 13th goal in three matches.
The ball had barely left his foot when the unfortunate Malian midfielder grabbed his head with both hands, as if aware of having started an endless loop again. A feeling of déjà vu (too much), and still not the slightest outline of a solution to get out of the infernal spiral. Just one observation: at least one class difference separates Laurey’s men from the rest for the moment, and the gap is widening.
