Recap: Brest and AJA Play a Thrilling Back-and-Forth Draw
Match Reports
Stade Brestois and AJ Auxerre played to an exciting 2-2 draw on Friday night at Stade Francis-Le Blé to begin Matchday 22 in Ligue 1 McDonald's.
Auxerre broke the scoreless deadlock to take a 1-0 lead over Brest in the 18th minute. Théo Bair won an aerial duel and headed the ball into the box, where Gaëtan Perrin controlled it, shifted onto his left foot, and fired a half-volley past Marco Bizot.
In the 37th minute, Brest believed they had leveled the scoring one-all, but the referee called the play offside. Auxerre went into the halftime break, holding a one-goal advantage over Éric Roy and his team.
Brest managed to equalize in the second half despite having a goal ruled out earlier. It was a fortunate break for Abdoulaye Ndiaye, whose accidental touch led to the game-tying goal in the 61st minute.
Following Kamory Doumbia's free kick, Ado Onaiwu's header hit Ndiaye's shin and deflected into the Auxerre net. The contest didn't remain leveled as AJA took a 2-1 lead in the 74th minute.
Lassine Sinayoko found Gideon Mensah on the left, who sent in a cross. Ndiaye managed to deflect it off the bar, but Perrin quickly pounced on the rebound, firing off a shot for the goal and his second of the night.
Auxerre couldn't hold onto their second lead of the night as Brest leveled the matchup four minutes later.
The scoring play began with Romain Faivre, who delivered a perfect ball from the left to Mama Baldé on the right. Baldé then headed it to Ludovic Ajorque, who finished with a close-range header to level the score.
After the match, AJA manager Christophe Pélissier spoke at his press conference to share his thoughts on his team's performance.
"There’s some frustration in the locker room, but also a sense of satisfaction. We earned a point, played well, and scored two goals... We may not have won, but we showed we’re not giving up easily."
The Stat: 6
Ajorque becomes the first player in Brest's history to score in six consecutive Ligue 1 McDonald's matches after his goal against AJA.
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