This Sunday, Metz and Saint-Étienne drew 2-2 in the second leg of the French Championship playoffs, at Stade Saint-Symphorien. With the aggregate of 4-3, Saint-Étienne confirmed their access to the elite of French football.
The goals in the second leg were scored by Lamine Camara and Georges Mikautadze, for Metz, and Léo Pétrot and Wadji, for Saint-Étienne. This was the last match for both teams in the 2023/2024 season.
Metz fans had reason to worry just five minutes into the match. Striker Papa Diallo arrived late in the tackle and hit Appiah’s knee with the spikes of his boot. Initially, the referee showed a yellow card, however, after review by the VAR, he issued a red card.
Despite having one player less, Metz took a 2-0 lead. The first goal came 16 minutes into the first half, when Matthieu Udol received it on the left, sent it into the area and saw Camara arrive shooting towards the goal.
The second goal came just seven minutes later, at 25. Mikautadze made a good individual play, invaded the area and was touched from behind. Close to the play, the referee quickly awarded the penalty. In the charge, the number 10 himself converted.
Saint-Étienne’s response came in the 34th minute. Mouffek took advantage of a corner kick, deflected it behind and Léo Pétrot appeared unmarked to shoot into the net.
With the partial score 2-1, the game ended up going into extra time. When everything indicated that the match would go to penalties, Saint-Étienne scored a goal in the 11th minute of the second half of extra time. Mbuku received the ball on the right of the area and found Wadji, who finished low into the goal.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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