| Referee : M. Biton, assistants M. Pierraud & M. Waniant; Attendance - 250 Bookings : Saci (50) – Labat (64) Sent off : Avezac (43) – Hutteau (62) Goals : Van Kets (6, 32), Natchimie (15), Saragaglia (30, 85) |
Red Star go marching on, but is it a case of too little too late ? Perhaps, but even if Red Star are already condemned, then performances like this one make up for all the suffering earlier in the season.
Value for money, if nothing else. Five goals, a couple of them real beauties too, two sendings off, three if you include Paus' coach and a minor diversion involving Jean-Claude Bras getting into a scuffle in the stand. But back to the game. Red Star did what they have threatened to do for a long time. If only they had converted their chances like they did today earlier in the season, then they would be playing one of the leading tenor roles in the National. Patrick Van Kets got the rout underway after just si minutes. A defensive lapse, posession regained and a lovely lob over the goalkeepers' head from the edge of the penalty area by VAN KETS. (1-0). Red Star continued to pile on the pressure and were rewarded with a second goal, a goal worthy of any striker but scored by a defender. Mickaël NATCHIMIE scoring with a wonderful bicycle kick - when was the last time a center-half scored a similar goal ?
By now Red Star were full of confidence, and a slick passing movement led to Olivier SARAGAGLIA in the unfamiliar position of having just the goalkeeper in front of him. No mistake, the ball slid pas the despairing dive of Paus' number one. (3-0). From the celebrations, it is obvious that SuperSara doesn't get that many goals ! Two minutes later and Red Star continued the goal feat, VAN KETS notching the fourth. It could have been more - Pizzo rapped the post with a fine drive, Sara (again) foiled by the goalkeeper. All this proved to be too much for the Pau coach to stand, and Joël Lopez incurred the wrath of the officials and had to watch the remainder of the game from the stands. Just before the break, another sending-off, this time Avezac who had decided to stamp on Mickaël Pizzo.
Just after the break, a scuffle broke out in the stands, involving Jean-Claude Bras and someone else, no harm done but a minor diversion for the pitiful crowd at Marville. Back to the action, and another dismissal, this time Red Stars' captain Hutteau setting a bad example. A minor tussle for the ball led to the referee awarding a free-kick to the visitors. Then, right under the referees' nose, Hutteau kicked his opponent up the arse... red card and an early bath. At ten against ten, Pau came back into the game, and Red Stars' goalkeeper Charles Itandje again gave a faultless display, watched by Guy Roux. Whether with the feet, hands or head, the youngster was magnificent. Beaten only once, a fierce shot by Vuksanovic which rattled the bar before bouncing to safety. But last word to Red Star - Serraus' free kick curled onto the head of SARAGAGLIA for his second goal of the evening. Cue even more outrageous goal celebrationns. But in fairness, they deserved it, a ray of light in an otherwise drab season.