MATCH REPORTS 2003-2004  RED STAR FC 93

RED STAR 0 COSMO ERMONT-TAVERNY 2 (0-1)
Division Honneur - Week 13
Stade Bauer, 14/12/2003

Goals :Montadour (13), Abdallah (55)
Booked : Fourneuf (26) - Lubino (45), Abdallah (47), Oucif-Said (69), Montadour (71), Mondon (85)
Sent Off : Lubino (86)
Attendance : 250 - referee : M. Lissorgue

RED STAR : Delmas, Dao, Fourneuf, Diomande, Delaneuville, Benmesmoudi (Fellahi), Budoc (Desmarets), N'Simba, Marques, Hamdane, Latt-Agnes. Sub : Balde. Coach: A. Méguellatti.
COSMO ERMONT-TAVERNY : Mondon, Annicette, Jacob, Jean-Marie, Blondeau, Lubino, Ellepadeatchy (Akoun 64), Abdallah, Oucif-Said (Ezzarhouni 90), Basilio (Fernandez Daveira 40), Montadour. Entr. C. Jean
AllezRedStar.com man of the Match : Yoann DELANEUVILLE

Red Star - Cosmo
Benmesmoudi, Budoc (7), Oucif Said (9), Hamdane (10)

SAME OLD STORY

Its as simple as that. Ball - net - net - ball. Only it appears that Red Stars' players don't want to damage the nets at Stade Bauer. Unfortunately it was the same old story for the boys of Saint-Ouen. Corrected by a side well-versed in the art of DH football - get one early doors, defend grimly, knowing that your opponents aren't exactly Real Madrid then hit them with a second on the break. Red Stars defence, with three official defenders at the back aided by the hard-working Yoann Delaneuville, were asleep when Cosmo opened their account. Simplicity, a ball lobbed across from one side of the goal to another, the goalie flapping at fresh air and appalling marking as Cosmos' man gleefully profited.
After that it was all one-way traffic, with Red Star pressing forwards and exerting pressure on a solid defence.
In the second half, Cosmo controlled the game perfectly, extending their lead at a critical moment of the game on a counter-attack while Red Star had thrown everything but the kitchen sink at them. Two or three slick passes against a stretched defence and quicker than one could say "We've got him", the ball was in the back of Delmas' net.
The late introduction of the lively Desmarets failed to get the home side back into the game. Latt-Agnes, maligned by an element of Red Stars' supporters but nevertheless the likeliest to score flashed one header wide when he really should have scored, and later on launched himself full-length at a delightful Fourneuf cross, only for the ball to shave the top of the cross bar.
So the home fans drifted away disappointed yet again. The statistics aren't good. In six home games, Red Star have failed to score on four occasions. They haven't scored at home since the 2-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain back in October. Every time Red Star concede a goal in the first twenty minutes they go on to lose. They have never come back from behind to win, home or away.
In defence of the coach and his men, the injury list hardly helps their cause. The rule about only being able to play five "transfer" players hinders Red Star, especially in their difficult position. Azzedine has had to make do and mend, pressing Yoann into defence, with Carles gone awol, Hammami, Yessad, Cuervo and big Franck out injured. All things considered, that is a serious blow with some very influential players out. Add to that the brilliant goalie Germain, Red Star have some problems at the back. One may say that the problems lie in attack, not defence, but when strikers are under pressure to chase the game after going a goal behind the cause is not helped. If Red Star can get the defence back into order, then early goals might be avoided and the strikers can do their job more effectively, and the opposition won't be able to pull ten men behind the ball.
To look on the positive side of the game, Delaneuville ran his heart out for the team, and a promising sign is the return to form of Djamel Hamdane. Vince Fourneuf at times shows glimpses of being a very capable and composed defender. N'Simba depsite having a quiet game is a great prospect, still has a bit of work to do, but he's on the right track. Up front, the somewhat maligned Latt-Agnes is still Red Stars' best hope of scoring goals. Big, physical and not afraid to get in where it hurts, he provides a vital role in holding the ball up against equally robust DH defenders who give no quarter. No use in having two lightweight strikers up front - Marques and Fellahi would be no match for Cosmos defence.
If Red Star want another potential explanation to their inefficiency at home, perhaps they should look no further than under their feet. The pitch at Bauer is a disgrace, bumpy, uneven, unpredictable and in places unplayable. Not the ideal surface for the style of football Red Star play. The uncompromising Cosmo players exploited the crap surface well, and hence won the game. Red Star were trying stuff that might have worked fine on the snooker table surface of Marville in August, but failed miserably on a pitch more suited to the oval ball game.

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