SM Caen did not take advantage of the international break to change momentum and obtain a first success this season. Malherbe, despite a cannon start illustrated by the return of Alex Mendy scorer, logically lost on the pitch of a Grenoble superior in intensity and collective coherence.
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The summary
Ligue 2 on the weekend, supporters ask. Grenoble’s defense also stuck to this credo and missed its start to the match on Monday evening. Caught cold, GF38 was surprised after only four minutes by the inevitable Alexandre Mendy (read below)after a line-up error by captain Paquiez. But in a sparse Stade des Alpes, the Isérois immediately showed pride. If Mandréa was not really called upon, several interesting crosses flew in front of the Normandy goal, but without finding a finisher in a good position. It then took a very attentive Rajot on a corner to remove a hot ball in front of the line (26th). Malherbe retreated, but did not crack. His goalkeeper pushed back a low shot from Rigo (32nd), then saw a header from Paquiez fly over on the following corner. The GF38 continued its undermining work, but still without any offensive success, like a header from Valls caught by Mandréa at the end of a big strong moment (37th). Before half-time, the Isérois pressure was going to pay off. Lecoeuche did not control his tackle with a poorly placed sole on Paquiez. Meissa Ba did not tremble to equalize on penalty (1-1, 42nd). And in the process, Lebreton lost the ball in the duel with Valls. The laser pass for Meissa Ba was perfect, the striker slipped the ball into the far side of the net to overturn Malherbe in 2 minutes and score a double (2-1, 44th). Enough to annoy Nicolas Seube with a nightmare scenario when returning to the locker room.
Grenoble wraps up the affair after the break
After the break, the trend remained much the same. Not really in the rhythm, Caen still left too much space for Arial Mendy to cross. The ball headed away by Lecoeuche landed on Kérouédan, whose shot was off target (56th). In the process, a cross from the outside of Kérouédan’s foot was poorly handled by Mandréa. And it was not the Normandy defence that was the quickest to follow, but Paquiez made the break as a fox in the box with his usual aggressiveness. (3-1, 59th). This third goal would – finally – wake up Caen. Barely having come on, Le Bihan forced Diop to make a great save with his opposite hand (67th). The Norman substitutes did some good, but Coulibaly also came up against an impeccable Isère goalkeeper (81st). In the end, the score would not change after a final save from Diop in front of Gomis (93rd), allowing Grenoble to come back to within two points of the leader, and leaving Caen in the play-off position at the bottom of the table with just one point out of 12 on the clock.
The fact of the match: the return of Alex Mendy scorer
He could have had qualms after his aborted transfer to Sunderland, while he had an exit voucher from the former management. But Alexandre Mendy never cheated to defend the Malherbe jersey. Relaunched at the end of the match before the international break, last season’s top scorer had his first start of the season on Monday evening. And his impact was immediately felt. His first chance was the right one, after a magnificent deep pass from Brahimi in his direction, with a clinical finish in power. The scorer was very close to scoring twice in the first half, without a superb reflex save from Diop to stop his clever deflection with his heel on a back cross. Unfortunately, Malherbe’s defensive sector was not up to the level of his fatal offensive weapon. It should be noted however that he had little influence in the second half, replaced by Kalifa Coulibaly with a quarter of an hour to go in the match.
The best of the meeting:
1. Pape Meissa Ba (Grenoble): Always so generous in his efforts, he didn’t tremble on the penalty spot to offer Grenoble the equalizer. Enough to give him wings to overturn Caen in two minutes with a duel won in front of Mandréa to sign a nice double and totally reverse the trend of this match
2. Théo Valls (Grenoble): Omnipresent in midfield in recovery, he sets the tempo of Grenoble’s pressing and grinta. He also proves valuable in the offensive phases with interesting shifts and presence in the penalty area. The second goal is to his credit with a ball scraped into Lebreton’s feet.
3. Alexandre Mendy (Caen): Still as solid and valuable in the anchor point, his first opportunity was the right one after only 5 minutes of play. He could have scored twice with a nice backheel if it weren’t for a magnificent reflex save from Diop, the opposing goalkeeper. A drop in form in the second half, even if in his defense, he was little served by his teammates…
4. Gaëtan Paquiez (Grenoble): At fault in some way for Caen’s opening goal by covering Mendy’s offside, the Grenoble captain was able to raise his head and lead the revolt. He won the penalty converted by Meissa Ba, and turned into a scorer himself in the second half in order to make the break and put his team in safety (3-1) thanks to his grinta in the area.
The match sheet
Ligue 2 – 4th day – Stade des Alpes
Grenoble – Caen: 3-1 (2-1)
Goals: Meissa Ba (42nd, sp, 44th), Paquiez (59th) for GF38 / Mendy (4th) for Caen.
Warnings: Joseph (12th) for GF38 / Lecoeuche (41st), Meddah (52nd), M’Vila (70th), Tavares (80th) for Caen.
GF38 : Diop – Paquiez, Diarra, Tchaptchet, Mendy (Delos, 81st) – Rigo, Mbemba (Benet, 74th), Valls – Joseph (Mouyokolo, 92nd), Kérouédan (Bangré, 74th), Meissa Ba (Jabbari, 93rd)
The bench: Allain, Elphege.
SMC : Mandréa – Meddah (Tavares, 63rd), Thomas, Gaucho, Lecoeuche – M’Vila, Lebreton (Le Bihan, 63rd), Rajot – Brahimi (Gomis, 63rd), Kyeremeh (Milliner, 75th), Mendy (Coulibaly, 75th).
The bench: Clémentia, Bolumbu.
Photo by Anthony Bibard/FEP/Icon Sport
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