Brest continues its fantastic adventure and can still dream of qualifying for the Champions League for next season. At the end of a match where the Finistère collective initially suffered against a Lorient team solid in its offensive animation, the former were able to snatch the three points at the very end of the match (86th), thanks to a goal from Romain Del Castillo (0-1).
The Merlus, who played at home, may have regrets. Because the first half turned very clearly in their favor, despite a pitch made slippery by the rain: with a shot on target from Badredine Bouanani (20th) and a breakthrough followed by an 18-meter strike from Julien Ponceau which failed on the post (42nd), the Lorientais only missed the goal, who had control of the game. The Brestois, who were suffering, did not manage to get their shots on target, despite an attempt in the first minutes of play by Mahdi Camara, dismissed by the unfortunate counter from the back of Jérémy Le Douaron (2nd).
The absence on the field of Pierre Lees-Melou, cornerstone of the Brest midfielder, suspended, hampered the offensive animation of his team. Kept afloat by its central hinge and its goalkeeper, Brest notably escaped a penalty. While the restless Lorient winger Bouanani crossed from the right side, Isaak Touré managed to head home, from the height of 2.04 meters, towards Bamba (28th). But Brendan Chardonnet removed the danger from his shoulder. The Lorient players then demanded a hand from the referee, Jérôme Brisard, who sanctioned their furious assistant coach Yannick Cahuzac with a red card. The game director eventually viewed the footage, but confirmed his decision.
50th goal conceded by Lorient
The second half was an opportunity for a rebalancing, with the good entries of Kamory Doumbia and Romain Del Castillo (64th). The match then closed, the chances dried up and tempers grew heated. The 80th minute marked the time to take risks to succeed in the hold-up. Darlin Yongwa first activated on his left side for the Lorientais, without success (81st). The liberation will be for Brest. Martin Satriano took advantage of a rough recovery from Lorient to launch Doumbia into the axis. The latter shifted Romain Del Castillo, alone on the right, who scored his sixth goal of the season with his left foot (86th).
To celebrate his 100th match in the colors of Brest, Marco Bizot sealed his team’s victory by parrying at point blank range the excellent helmet shot from Yongwa (90th), alone at the far post, on a cross from Imran Louza (entered in the 82nd in place of captain Laurent Abergel). Darlin Yongwa expressed all his frustration after the match: “It’s disappointing to concede a goal like that… We had control of the game throughout the match and, on the only chance they had, they marked,” declared the Merlus left-back on Amazon Prime. The fact remains that Lorient conceded their 50th goal here and continues to race at the top of the rankings for… the worst defense in Ligue 1.
Sunday April 7 at home against Metz (17th out of 18 in the L1 standings), Stade Brestois will have the opportunity to get a little closer to its dream of the Champions League. This prospect was totally improbable at the start season for a club which has, with 48 million euros, the 15th budget in the championship, very far from the 700 million of Paris Saint-Germain.
