Bilal Brahimi (SM Caen midfielder): “The coach’s speech is very motivating. When we play at Ornano, we know that there are a lot of expectations, that the supporters are waiting for this fifth place, which is synonymous with the play-offs. We will try to go for it until the end, against Dunkirk and Valenciennes. We will watch carefully the Auxerre match against Paris FC tomorrow (Saturday). We had a very good first half, we just missed this little goal. In the second period, Laval had a few counterattacks. We tried to play our game. The coach expected the same performance as in Saint-Etienne, with added efficiency.
On my goal, I was very happy, I saw an incredible kop in front of me, an explosion of joy. I was really happy for them, for my teammates and for the club. It was my hundredth appearance in Ligue 2 today (Friday), I am very happy with this outcome. It’s a season to forget for me and I have set myself a goal: to play my game in the final days.
I thank Olivier Pickeu (the president) and Yoann Eudeline (the sports director) who have always supported me. They always had the words, were there for me. The president told me that I was going to be good and that I was going to score goals in the final sprint. That made me smile, I have to continue like that. »
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Alexandre Mendy (SM Caen striker): “We are very satisfied, it is the victory of hope. Matches like this are very pleasant, even if we have situations and we can score before our goal.
Winning at the end of the match, with this scenario, brings something else to the group. We had already had a big game in the game in Saint-Etienne, failing in the last gesture. Tonight (Friday), it almost was the same match. But thanks to the action of Tidiam (Gomis) and the goal of Bilal (Brahimi), we managed to take the three points. We were prepared for a match like this, we had seen them on video. We were able to come up with something to win this match. Personally, I’ve had situations and when I don’t deal with them, I blame myself. But we won and that feels good.
The most important thing is that the locker room believes in it. We all believe in it and that allows us to take all the people of Caen with us. We hope to have a good surprise at the end of the season. We know that the people of Caen are fully behind us. We’re used to going outside to play, we see that it’s not the same atmosphere. It’s also thanks to them if we were able to win this match, because they pushed us until the end. »
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Syam Ben Youssef (central defender of SM Caen): “We talked about it before the match, we knew that this goal could come late in the match. We played a fairly complete match, we had a lot of fun on and off the pitch.
We were patient, we tried to turn the ball to open the gap. This came to fruition at the end of the match. Personally, it feels really good to play. I went through very difficult times but like the match, I am here and I always told the coach that I would be there if he needed. »
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Romain Thomas (captain and central defender of SM Caen): “We knew what Laval was going to do, because that’s how they won in Bordeaux last week. It’s totally different when you play against a low block, because we had to be vigilant on our transitions because they were just waiting to weigh us down with two or three passes. We managed that well. In this type of match, scoring quickly would have made it more open. Against this kind of teams, you have to gain confidence, try to repeat your passes, play simple, be on the move. I had a blast. We have to focus on ourselves and play all the remaining matches to win them. »
Noé Lebreton (SM Caen midfielder): “We knew that we had three decisive matches remaining, with the obligation to obtain three points each time. Tonight was the first final, there are two remaining. The crowd is magnificent, in every match they push us, it’s thanks to them and what we put on the pitch that we win. Throughout the match we had the ball, we controlled them well. We didn’t panic, which allowed us to score. It was a consistent match, we got what we deserved. »
Malik Tchokounté (Laval striker): “It’s nice to see d’Ornano again, especially full like that. It was a great display, but there was the disappointment of conceding this goal at the end of the match, on a counterattack. We had some opportunities. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out. We knew that Caen was a good team, very pushed by their home crowd. I would have liked to do a little bit here, that’s how it is. We now need to be flawless and hope for a misstep from our direct competitors. »
