RED STAR FC 93 0 VILLEMOMBLE 1 (0-1),
Division D'Honneur week 4
Stade Bauer, 14/9/2003
But : Mendy (15) - attendance : 600 - referee : M. Antonio
Booked : Fourneuf (46) - Yamou (38), Bamba (73), Do Novo (89)
RED STAR : Néret, Carles, Hammami, Cuervo (Diomande 83), Guei, Fourneuf (Jalliti 81), Delaneuville, Fellahi, Balde, Latt-Agnes, Desmarets (Budoc 60). Coach: A. Méguellatti.
VILLEMOMBLE : Lacour, Bamba, Yamou, Santos, Reyaz, Dimosi, Dardelet, Benghougham, Gnemagnon (El Hadri 80), Do Novo, Mendy (Massengo 90). N.E. Corista. Coach: A. MBoma
AllezRedStar.com man of the match: Yoann Delaneuville
No way past Mickaël Santos for Julien Carles and Riad Fellahi
REMEMBER YOU'RE VILLEMOMBLE
Red Star learned another hard lesson on life in the DH on Sunday in front of their own fans at Bauer. Villemomble are now one of the favourites to go up, and their performance, whilst not exactly brilliant, was efficient enough to win the points.
It was Red Star who should really have opened the scoring in the fifth minute - firstly Latt-Agnes then Balde following up failed to beat the defence, which had to resort to a clearance off the line. Following a period of early Red Star pressure, the visitors responded, and put Nérets' goal under siege. Franck Guei was forced to put the ball out for a corner, and from the resulting kick, Julien Carles swung a foot wildly at the ball which spun off to the head of Mendy who placed a firm header into the net (0-1).
From this point onwards it was obvious that Villemomble would attempt to stifle Red Stars' football, and this they did admirably. The game wore on with fewer and fewer chances either side. A game compressed into midfield, but Red Stars' re-looked midfield failed to create any clear openings, despite the hard work of captain Yoann Delaneuville.
Red Stars' best move came just before the end, created by lively substitute Budoc, whose cross just evaded the oncoming Riad Fellahi.
A hard lesson to take, the visitors are efficient and organised, sufficient to make a mark in the DH. Analysing Red Stars' performance, optimism can be drawn from the promising debut of Philippe Cuervo, whose reading of the game was excellent. The only down side is that he limped off near the end of the game. Julien Carles had an off-day, enough said. Franck Guei was solid, as per usual, but too often he was the only source of inspiration in attack, perhaps not the most comfortablest with the ball at his feet on a forwards dribble. Bilal Hammami worked hard in defence, Vincent Fourneuf was lost in a role slightly advanced of the back four. Delaneuville was one of the livliest of Red Stars' players, a possible for the man of the match; Riad Fellahi had an off-day too, whilst up front Balde was quiet, Latt-Agnes was well-marshalled and Yves Desmarets failed to stamp any authority on the game, despite some nice touches.
Red Star's re-modelled midfield was missing something, perhaps the hard-work of Jalliti. Up front Red Star need someone with experience just behind the front two, who can pick up on lose balls, put defenders under pressure and make telling passes when they are needed. Still, it's only the start, the team is only one month old, Villemomble have kept the same nucleus of players for a few seasons and have the intuitions. Just give it time...
© AllezRedStar.com 2003