Saint-Etienne secured their second successive win of the group stage as the French outfit breezed past Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.
Fourth in France’s top flight, the hosts are also enjoying a much improved Europa League campaign following that of last season’s. Finishing bottom of the group after five straight draws and a damaging defeat to Dnipro in 2014, the club are now on the verge of qualification to the knock-out stages having moved three points clear of their opponents.
An intense first 45 had chances for both sides but Kevin Monnet-Paquet ensured that ASSE would go into the interval with the advantage after he calmly finished a slick passing move. Robert Beric doubled the advantage in a dominant second half showing from Les Verts and the points were secured with 25 minutes left to play as Romain Hamouma came off the bench to add a third.
Opening exchanges evenly contested
Kevin Monnet-Paquet was presented with the first chance of this Europa League encounter when the ball approached the winger after great work from Valentin Eysseric. The 23-year-old, who has already levelled his goalscoring tally of last season for Nice, took on numerous Dnipro defenders on the periphery of the penalty area before sliding the ball into the ultimately inept Frenchman.
After a succession of fouls were conceded by the visitors, which resulted in bookings for Yevhen Seleznyov and Leo Matos, the Greens were able to test Denys Boyko further with a misshit cross from right-back Francois Clerc that almost looped other the goalkeeper before another Monnet-Paquet effort was correctly ruled out for offside.
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk rarely tested Stephane Ruffier, who recently refused to be second or third choice goalkeeper for France, and perhaps should have done when Yevhen Seleznyov came close to connecting from a cross a mere few yards from goal. An opportunity deriving from a counter attack came moments later for the Ligue 1 side but Monnet-Paquet’s pass was too weak for Eysseric, the Nice loanee having too much to do in the end.
Saint-Etienne open the scoring in tight first-half
Despite his faults, Kevin Monnet-Paquet scored the opening goal five minutes before half-time with an incisive move. The former Lorient man ineffably took down a crossfield ball from Benoit Assou-Ekotto on his chest, enabling the Frenchman to cut inside and find Robert Beric with his back to goal. Attracting a number of players, the Slovenian created the space for his team-mate before sliding the ball into Monnet-Paquet’s path and the 27-year-old finished superbly.
The Ukrainian outfit thought they had found an equalizer on the stroke of half-time when top goalscorer Seleznyov’s wonderful header found the bottom corner of Ruffier’s net. The Ukraine international’s 13th goal of the season was chalked off by Mattias Gestranius, the Finnish referee adjudging Seleznyov to have fouled captain Loic Perrin before making contact with the ball.
Quick tempo sets the tone as Les Verts dominate
Saint-Etienne manager Christophe Galtier was quick to refute claims that the club already had their minds set on the Derby Rhone-Alpes due to take place this weekend. The long serving coach told the club’s official website that, in a European match, “ASSE cannot be 90% or 95%” and have to play at “120%” to obtain a result. The 10 time French champions showed no signs of distraction after the interval and pressurised last season’s Europa League finalists with an abundance of crosses from the offset.
After an enthralling start to the second half by the French, they were rewarded after one of the aforementioned balls into the box found top scorer Robert Beric.
The Warriors of Light were emphatically punished for mediocre passing in the 52nd minute when, following Fabien Lemoine’s interception, Nolan Roux delivered an exquisite cross that expertly found Beric between Dnipro’s two centre-backs. ASSE’s number 24 was selected for Slovenia’s national squad earlier in the day and continued his excellent run of form, extending from last season when he converted 27 goals in 33 games for Rapid Wien, and coolly finished past a hapless Boyko.
With Dnipro constantly conceding possession, Myron Markevych’s men had no time to settle as the Greens peppered the opposition’s back four. Romain Hamouma was dropped from the starting XI despite scoring the winner in the reverse fixture last month but was brought on just after the hour mark. He quickly showcased his value to the club, scoring five minutes after replacing Kevin Monnet-Paquet. A plethora of shots were well blocked by the defenders but the ball fortuitously found its way to Nolan Roux, the ex-Lille forward finding an unchallenged Hamouma.
Close efforts from substitute Corgnet and Dnipro’s Matheus were the highlights of a lacklustre end to the fixture, with Saint-Etienne keeping the ball for fun. Seven points from their first four games is good reading for Galtier’s side ahead of their derby with Lyon at the weekend. With a much more promising performance expected from the travellers, their Europa League dreams are very much in doubt.