Racing won the match that should not be lost. For the premiere of Frédéric Antonetti, arrived this week
on the Strasbourg bench replacing Matthieu Le Scornet, the Blues and Whites beat SCO Angers
last in the championship (2-1), Saturday February 18 at La Meinau.
A successful first half, a sluggish second
Racing thought it was safe after a double from Habib Diallo in the first half (his 11th and 12th in the league this season). But a penalty caused by rookie Eduard Sobol revived Angers, who reduced the gap by Bentaleb (75th).
“We are relieved, confided Frédéric Antonetti at the end of the match. I watched a report on Pelé on Netflix. After the victory at the 1970 World Cup, he said: I was not happy, I was relieved. It is often that, we are relieved because we have responsibilities which are enormous.
“It’s three points acquired in pain, but we take them with pleasure. We will have to build on what we did in the first half for the following matches. It’s the first victory for a great series I hoperejoiced striker Kévin Gameiro after the match.
The second half was indeed much slower: “we played a little with fear”conceded Kevin Gameiro. “We can have weak times, but it lasted a little too long and we were too passive. There may be a little physical, but above all mental. We have to relearn how to win”estimated for his part Frédéric Antonetti.
Racing’s next two games will be very important in the race for maintenance. Antonetti’s men travel to Clermont on Sunday February 26 (3 p.m.), before hosting Brest at La Meinau on March 5 (3 p.m.). Racing is provisionally 15th in Ligue 1 before the Sunday afternoon matches.