CFA roubd 26
Saturday 29th March 2008
RED STAR 1 METZ B 0 (1-0)
Attendance : 357 - referee : Gérard Dany assisted by Tehar Guebli and Joachim Lémy
Goals : Moukila (43)
Booked : Kangulungu (65), Pinto (87), Calton (74), Djiba (85)
Substitutions : Fardin by Robert (70), Moukila by MBanza (87) - Diakité by Pouye (46), Bassong by Calton (66), Nativel by Garcia (79)
RED STAR FC 93 : DJIDONOU (1) NSEKE (2), TOKALA (3), KANGULUNGU, cap. (4), PINTO (5), FARDIN (6), BERTHIER (7), OUATTARA (8), NEGRECHE (9), MOUKILA (10), YOSRI (11), MBANZA (12), SOW (13), ROBERT (14), GUEI (15), DIAKITE (16). Coach : Bruno NAIDON
METZ B : DELLE (1), LEONI (2), BONG, cap. (3), DELGADO (4), BASSONG (5), DIAKITE (6), DJIBA (7), BETSCH (8), FRANCOISE (9), ANDRES (10), NATIVEL (11), CALTON (12), GARCIA (13), POUYE (14). Coach : José PINOT
Noël Moukila scored on his return
FOOTBALL HOW IT SHOULD BE PLAYED
For once a team arrived at Stade Bauer on Saturday evening ready and willing to play football as it should be played. A pleasant change to see the beautiful game played instead of eleven men of limited ability stonewalling Red Star in the hope of a grinding out a draw at worst or maybe even sneaking a 1-0 win...
Metz fielded a very young side on Saturday and circulated the ball around beautifully. In turn, Red Star proved that technically they can match anyone else in the division. The proof of the pudding came in the shape of the beautifully struck goal, a volley from Noël MOUKILA just before half time. For the first twenty eight minutes of the game it was like watching the top European clubs in action. Nearly. Both Red Star and the visitors played the passing game, flowing football that was marred only by some indifferent finishing. Metzs' goalie was called into action more often than his Red Star counterpart, denying Taimmy Negreche on one occasion with a top-notch save when a goal looked the more likely outcome.
After the initial burst, the game lost its fizz somewhat prior to the goal with a quarter of a hour when both sides went off the boil. A second goal would have been nice before the break, but it was not to be and supporters were left wondering the outcome of the game over their half-time coffees.
The second half was fairly evenly balanced, but overall Metzs' Joris Delle was the busiest of the two goalkeepers. Red Star should have sealed the points but Delle, who is Frances' under 18 international goalkeeper, pulled off two fine reflex saves in succession to deny Negreche and Yosri.
A mid-table match with an end-of-season feel to it, even though March is still not over yet. The spectators were rewarded with a pleasant to watch game, even though it may have lacked goals. Sometimes 1-0 wins can be just as interesting. For Red Star Negreche was a constant thorn in the side of the Metz defence, guilty on more than one occasion of leaving far too much space. A man of the match contender could be Yannick Berthier, who appears to have rediscovered his confidence, and right in front of the Red Star Kop, he produced a moment of skill to release the ball and confuse his two markers. Red Stars' defence concentrated on the game, no mistakes which could always prove costly against a lively side like Metz.
© AllezRedStar.com 2008