The midfielder of Malian descent and the Gabon international found the net as the Saints caged the Racers to continue their strong Ligue 1 start
Saint-Etienne recorded a 2-0 victory over Strasbourg in Saturday’s French topflight clash, with Mahdi Camara and Denis Bouanga getting the goals.
Having lost their opening Ligue 1 games to Lorient and Nice, Thierry Laurey’s men travelled to Stade Geoffroy-Guichard with the ambition of earning their first win of the 2020-21 season.
Nevertheless, that dream was a mere wish as they bowed to second-half goals from the African duo.
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The first-half which ended 0-0 produced no sparks with yellow cards to Saint-Etienne’s Yvan Noupa and Strasbourg duo of Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Ibrahima Sissoko the key actions of the first 45 minutes.
In the second-half, the hosts turned the game around as their attacking forays produced the required result.
First, Gabon international Bouanga beat goalkeeper Bingourou Kamara from the penalty spot in the 57th minute after France-born Ghanaian defender Aleksander Djiku was adjudged by referee Eric Wattellier to have handled a cross directed at Charles Abi.
Camara sealed the win in the 82nd minute after smashing into an empty net after the visitors failed to clear their backline.
That strike was the 22-year-old’s first in the French elite division since he was promoted to the Green’s first team in the 2017-18 season.
While Camara played from start to finish, Bounaga was replaced in the 86th minute by Kevin Monnet-Paquet. Cameroon’s Yvan Noupa who is on loan from Braga was replaced in the 72nd minute by Zaydou Youssouf, while Cote d’Ivoire’s Jean-Philippe Krasso, Senegal’s Assane Diousse, Tunisia’s Wahbi Khazri and Algeria’s Ryad Boudebouz played no part in the fixture.
South African star Lebo Mothiba was not listed by Strasbourg while Cote d’Ivoire’s Kevin Zohi who was handed a starter’s role was replaced by Mehdi Chahiri in the 61st minute, while Algeria’s Idriss Saadi came in for Ghana’s Abdul Majeed Waris with 10 minutes left to play and Adrien Thomasson for Mali’s Ibrahima Sissoko a minute later.
There was no place for Tunisia’s Moataz Zemzemi and Cote d’Ivoire’s Lamine Kone as Strasburg have now lost all their games so far this term to sit at the base of the log. They would be hoping to halt their poor run on Sunday when Dijon visit Stade de la Meinau.
