The Red Star team came to greet its supporters and received a well-deserved ovation despite failing to beat Clermont, dropping its 10th point at home this season.
But led for an hour by Clermont, Grégory Poirier’s players earned a draw (2-2) more than they deserved, considering their excellent performance and energy. Now three points behind leaders Troyes, Friday’s winners in Laval (1-0), they could be overtaken in 2nd place if Saint-Étienne wins against Nancy in the evening.
In the Bauer stadium which was converted into a freezer, Red Star still provided a little warmth to the crowd by scoring a goal early on after just over a minute of play. The inevitable Damien Durand capitalized on a beautiful move initiated by a brilliant deflection by Saîf-Eddine Khaoui followed by center Dembo Sylla, to score his 8th goal of the season (1-0, 2nd).
But it was another Ile-de-France player with a rising career, Kader Bamba, who stole the show. In front of his family and friends who came especially from Taverny (95) where he played, winning the Val-d’Oise Cup in 2014, the former FC Nantes striker (31 years old) scored two incredible goals that put Clermont in the lead. He first ended the collective action (12th) then offered himself a double with a beautiful shot into the top corner at the entrance of the penalty area (25th). Bamba increased his total goals to 7 goals since the start of the season.
“Good point”, emphasized Pierre Lemonnier, author of the equaliser
But Red Star kept trying and was rewarded. Just after the 1-3 ball missed due to Salmier’s (84th) deflection hitting the post, captain Pierre Lemonnier equalized with a header from Guillaume Trani’s (2-2, 85th) corner.
“It was a complicated match, we expected that because they are a very good team who like to have the ball,” emphasized Pierre Lemonnier on the BeIN microphone. They gave us problems. But the most important thing is not to lose it. We keep our dynamic at home. We have to maintain what we did in the first game with the maturity, but also the carefree attitude that we have towards the young players. You must remain thorough. The kind of games where we are behind, you have to know not to lose and score again. That’s a good point. »
