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Auxerre

Auxerre are enduring a difficult run of form, winless in their last seven matches across all competitions, including a 2-0 loss to Angers in their most recent outing. However, AJA are known to be especially good at home, where they notably drew against PSG, Lens and Lille consecutively.
Injuries to Kevin Danois, Ousoumane Camara, and Ange Loic, combined with Gabriel Osho’s suspension, leaves the team shorthanded. However, forward Hamed Junior Traoré remains a key player, ranking seventh among Ligue 1’s top scorers.
Historically, Auxerre have performed well against Saint-Étienne, winning 13 of their 34 encounters, with 14 ending in draws. Despite their struggles, Auxerre will leverage their home advantage to secure a victory and end their poor run of form.
AS Saint-Etienne

AS Saint-Étienne kicked off the year with a solid 3-1 victory over Reims but stumbled slightly with a 1-1 draw against Nantes in their most recent outing. Their new coach, Eirik Horneland, has been doing wonders, metamorphosing them into a more coherent team, having even given PSG a run for their money.
With no significant injuries reported, Saint-Étienne are at full strength and will lean on Zurab Davitashvili, their top scorer with six goals this season. Their summer signing, Lucas Stassin, is seemingly finding his feet with Les Verts to lead the charge. However, the suspension of their midfield Maestro Benjamin Bouchouari could cost them.
Saint-Étienne is confident from their 3-1 victory over Auxerre earlier this season and will be determined to repeat that result. The Horneland men have an excellent opportunity to claim three vital points and climb the Ligue 1 table.
LIVE Text Commentary
90+5'

Marc Bollengier is looking at his watch and immediately ends this match.
90+2'

Foul! Igor Miladinovic (St Etienne) is penalised for pulling back his opponent.
90

The fourth official shows 4 min. of added time.
89'

Ado Onaiwu (Auxerre) picks up the ball, dribbles to the edge of the penalty area and unleashes a brilliant low shot to the middle of the goal, but is thwarted by a decent save from Gautier Larsonneur.
87'

Florian Aye (Auxerre) comes onto the pitch after Hamed Junior Traore signals to the bench that he cannot continue any longer after picking up an injury.
85'

Here comes a substitution. Igor Miladinovic (St Etienne) is brought on as a substitute for Pierre Ekwah.
85'

Eirik Horneland prepares a substitution. Augustine Boakye is replaced by Mathieu Cafaro (St Etienne).
84'

Han-Noah Massengo (Auxerre) picks up a yellow card.
84'

Auxerre are seeing far more of the ball now.
83'

Substitution. Gaetan Perrin will be replaced by Ado Onaiwu (Auxerre).
82'

Zuriko Davitashvili (St Etienne) fails to find any of his teammates inside the box as his pass is blocked.
81'

Some patient build-up play from St Etienne as they look to unlock the defence.
77'

Dylan Batubinsika (St Etienne) gets on the end of a good pass and from mid-range he unleashes a decent strike, but the shot is blocked by the defender.
76'

Elisha Owusu (Auxerre) receives a low pass just outside the box and unleashes a fine strike towards the bottom right corner. Gautier Larsonneur pulls off a reflexive save to block his effort. Nice goalkeeping skill, indeed.
76'

0:3 – these are the offside statistics for both sides in this match.
74'

Pierre Ekwah (St Etienne) is penalised after knocking an opponent down.
73'

The ball is cleared after Zuriko Davitashvili (St Etienne) attempted to dribble past an opposing player.
72'

The St Etienne players are exchanging some short passes.
71'

The resulting set piece from St Etienne is comfortably intercepted by one of the defending players.
69'

Here is a change. Paul Joly is going off and Christophe Pelissier gives the last tactical orders to Ki-Jana Hoever (Auxerre).
68'

Yellow card. Jubal Junior (Auxerre) goes into the book for a bad tackle on his opponent.
68'

Substitution. Lassine Sinayoko is replaced by Theo Bair (Auxerre).
65'

Augustine Boakye (St Etienne) touches the ball with his hand.
64'

A good clearance by a defender means the corner comes to nothing for St Etienne.
64'

St Etienne fail to score from a corner as Donovan Leon (Auxerre) leaps to collect the ball.
64'

A cross from Leo Petrot (St Etienne) fails to reach the box as the defence clears the ball away to safety.
62'

Lassine Sinayoko (Auxerre) looks to break free, but his touch lets him down and he loses the ball.
60'

Auxerre keep possession of the ball with some short passes, waiting for the moment to hit the opposition swiftly on the break.
59'

Substitution. Lamine Fomba makes his way off the pitch and Florian Tardieu (St Etienne) comes on as his replacement.
59'

A terrific piece of skill by Zuriko Davitashvili (St Etienne) inside the box gives him a clear goal scoring opportunity, but his shot is blocked right on the line by a defender after the keeper was beaten.
57'

Paul Joly (Auxerre) sends over a cross from the side into the penalty area in order to find one of his teammates, but he fails and the opportunity goes begging.
55'

Gaetan Perrin (Auxerre) times his run and jump perfectly to get on the end of the resulting corner, but the ball comes off the top of his head and goes miles over the bar.
55'

Gaetan Perrin (Auxerre) goes over to take the corner kick and it looks like he will send the ball into the penalty box.
54'

The ball is laid off to Lassine Sinayoko (Auxerre) on the edge of the box. He shoots through a crowd of players towards the bottom right corner and forces Gautier Larsonneur to make a decent save.
53'

A player from Auxerre commits an attacking foul. The referee blows his whistle.
52'

Paul Joly (Auxerre) unleashes a sweet first-timer from the edge of the box to the right side of the goal. The goalkeeper stops the shot with a quick save.
49'

The linesman raises his flag as one of the players from St Etienne was in an offside position.
49'

Lassine Sinayoko (Auxerre) dinks a cross into the box in an attempt to find one of his teammates, but the defence manages to clear.
49'

Auxerre quickly take a corner kick with a short pass.
48'

Donovan Leon (Auxerre) flights in the cross, but the defender is alert and clears to safety.
47'

Elisha Owusu (Auxerre) clearly holds his opponent to prevent him from getting the ball and the referee blows his whistle for a foul.
46'

Some neat passing and movement from St Etienne as they ping around some short passes in order to create a new attacking opportunity.
46'

The second half has just started.
45+3'

The referee blows his whistle for half-time, bringing to a close the first 45 minutes of the match.
45+2'

Marc Bollengier sticks with his original decision after the VAR review. No infringement and the goal stands!
45+1'

Wait! Referee Marc Bollengier has indicated he is going to review the St Etienne goal using VAR. It’s probably to see if there was an offside in the build-up.
45

2 additional min. will be played.
45'

Lucas Stassin (St Etienne) gets to a rebound inside the six-yard box and produces a header. He manages to put the ball into the middle of the goal, and thus alter the score to 1:1.
43'

Marc Bollengier interrupts the game for a tactical foul by Lamine Fomba (St Etienne).
42'

Pierre Ekwah (St Etienne) latches on to a loose ball on the edge of the box and fires in a first-time shot on goal, but the effort lacks accuracy and flies high over the bar.
40'

Gideon Mensah (Auxerre) should know this behaviour is beyond the rules. He was too careless with his challenge and left Marc Bollengier no option but to blow his whistle.
39'

Hamed Junior Traore (Auxerre) sees an unmarked teammate and attempts to send him a low pass. However, one of the defenders reads the game perfectly and averts the danger.
36'

Gideon Mensah (Auxerre) tries to send a low pass into the box, but it's blocked and cleared.
33'

Paul Joly (Auxerre) delivers a lovely cross into the penalty area. Nevertheless, an opposition defender is alert and averts the danger with a brilliant clearance.
31'

Lamine Fomba (St Etienne) fails to send a pass into the box as his effort is cut out.
31'

A fantastic block by a defender means that the corner from St Etienne comes to nothing.
29'

Donovan Leon (Auxerre) creates himself some space and attempts to put the ball into the box. However, the defender gets an important foot in to clear.
27'

Goal! Hamed Junior Traore (Auxerre) weaves his way past opponents, and he unleashes a magnificent effort from the edge of the box inside the right post. Gautier Larsonneur had no chance of reaching it. The score is 1:0.
26'

St Etienne are showcasing great team work and neat passing moves.
25'

Gaetan Perrin (Auxerre) looks to break free, but an opposing player clears the ball away.
24'

26:74 – the latest ball possession ratio.
24'

The St Etienne players are exchanging some short passes to try and open up the opposition’s defence and hit them swiftly on the break.
22'

Lassine Sinayoko (Auxerre) accepts a sweet pass on the edge of the box and unleashes a shot towards the goal, but he only hits the left post! What an unlucky moment for him.
19'

Han-Noah Massengo (Auxerre) is penalised for holding. Marc Bollengier signals a set piece.
18'

Pierre Ekwah (St Etienne) commits a minor foul to interrupt the attacking move of his opponent and is warned by the referee that he will get a yellow card if he does it again.
16'

A cross from a mid-range free kick, taken by Auxerre, is intercepted by one of the defenders.
15'

Lamine Fomba (St Etienne) pulls the jersey of one of the opposition players and Marc Bollengier blows his whistle for a foul.
14'

Donovan Leon (Auxerre) covers his face with his hands after wasting a promising chance. He takes the rebound on the edge of the box but blazes the ball high over the crossbar.
13'

Lassine Sinayoko (Auxerre) fails to pick a body out in the box with an over-hit cross to the back post.
12'

St Etienne string together a series of short passes.
10'

Leo Petrot (St Etienne) sends a lofted cross into the box which is headed clear.
10'

None of the St Etienne players could reach the corner kick as the ball was overhit and goes out of play.
9'

That's unlucky! Pierre Ekwah (St Etienne) beautifully controls a pass and from the edge of the box drills a shot in on goal, but it's inadvertently blocked by a defender and cleared.
7'

Dennis Appiah (St Etienne) sends a cross into the box, but the opposition's defence quickly intercepts the ball.
7'

Some great controlled play and passing in the middle of the pitch from St Etienne.
5'

A cross from a mid-range free kick, taken by St Etienne, is intercepted by one of the defenders.
5'

St Etienne are awarded a mid-range free kick.
5'

Paul Joly (Auxerre) carelessly slides into the feet of his opponent and he'll be lucky to avoid punishment. Marc Bollengier blows for the foul but keeps his cards in his pocket on this occasion.
3'

Han-Noah Massengo (Auxerre) reacts well to get to the rebound and takes a shot from the edge of the box, but he fails to get the ball through the players standing between him and the goal.
2'

Dennis Appiah (St Etienne) makes a rough challenge and Marc Bollengier blows his whistle for a foul.
1'

Dennis Appiah (St Etienne) tries to slide the ball through to a teammate but it's well blocked by a defender.
1'

The referee blows his whistle and we are underway.

The players are out at last! St Etienne will take the kick-off.

Marc Bollengier will officiate today.

Welcome to our minute-by-minute commentary of today's clash. You can enjoy a written form of everything important that will be happening on the pitch. Have fun.