For a few minutes in Auxerre, it seemed Pathé Mboup’s difficult run in front of goal would continue. Then the Brest winger produced the kind of finish that can change a season’s mood, even if it was not enough to prevent a 2-1 Ligue 1 defeat on Sunday.
Mboup ends his long wait
- Brest began brightly through their 22-year-old left winger, whose side had forced an opportunity with aggressive pressing. Mboup elected to shoot but found the Auxerre goalkeeper despite teammates being free in better positions.
- Two minutes later, the former Pau player again came close, sending another attempt wide.
- Rather than disappear from the game, Mboup continued to attack the spaces behind Auxerre’s defence and was rewarded from a Joris Chotard free-kick.
- Mboup moved ahead of Axel Tuanzebe, brought the delivery down with his right thigh and, in the same motion, drove a precise shot across goal to put Brest ahead.
- He celebrated at the corner flag with his arms stretched wide before being joined by Doumbia, Versini and Chotard.
The goal was Mboup’s first since 23 November, when he scored in Brest’s 3-2 win over Metz. His barren spell had lasted 22 matches and 27 shots.
A finish Brest hope can unlock him
Brest coach Julien Lachuer felt the goal showed the improvement required after a similar moment in the previous weekend’s 1-0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain.
“He had a comparable chance against PSG, but he rushed it too much,” Lachuer said. “This was the perfect action and a superb goal. I am pleased for him. Hopefully it can free him up and give him confidence.”
Mboup said the finish reflected the work being done on the training ground, and insisted persistence had been essential after several recent attempts had failed to find the net.
“We spend a lot of time working on finishing in training, and we have to reproduce it in matches,” he said. “I had tried plenty of shots like that in the last few games without success. This time it went for me, so it shows that you have to keep going.”
Auxerre ultimately turned the match around to take the points, leaving Brest with defeat but also a rare bright moment for Mboup: a sharply taken goal after a long silence.
