Ten-man Auxerre shock Brest to pull clear of drop
A double from Swiss defender Brian Okoh led the way for Auxerre, who shrugged off 'keeper Donovan Léon's early dismissal to win 3-0 -- catch up on all the action from Burgundy with our match report.
Léon sees red, but Auxerre strike first...
With the visitors missing the vital pair of defender Brendan Chardonnet and striker Ludovic Ajorque, Auxerre would surely have seen this match as a key fixture in their battle to avoid relegation. However, their aspirations looked to have quickly turned sour, as with just six minutes gone, on their first big chance, Brest got forward through Rémy Labeau-Lascary. The pacy forward was brought down by Leon just outside the box, and the 'keeper was sent off for a last-man foul.
Despite what seemed rather dire circumstances, Auxerre were undeterred, and five minutes later had a penalty shout against Soumaïla Coulibaly for a foul against forward Lassine Sinayoko. While they wouldn't have the rub of the green there, they continued to battle, looking to play on the counter and winning a series of corners. Indeed, it was from one of those corners that Auxerre would even open the scoring, with January arrival Romain Faivre's corner finding the head of Swiss U-21 defender Brian Okoh (24'). Brest would come close to equalizing at a set piece (40') through a defender of their own -- Junior Diaz, but his header crashed off the post and the Burgundians took an unlikely lead into the break.
⚽️⚽️ 2 goals as a defender
Bryan Okoh is ON FIRE! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/PfKwQdOuDc— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) March 21, 2026
...and remain irresistible
Just before the hour, Auxerre, who continued to be insistent, would shockingly doubled their lead, again through Faivre and Okoh. Taking a set piece from a central area some 30 meters from goal, the Bournemouth loanee dinked the ball behind the defence into the back post. Rising over two markers, the Swiss defender needed no second invitation to score again, doubling the lead and putting the Burgundians in the driver's seat.
As impressive as they had been, Auxerre weren't done yet. On a long ball out of the back by 'keeper Théo de Percin, Danny Namaso controlled the ball and laid it off to Gideon Mensah. Getting the ball back from the Ghanaian, he held off the visitors' defence before lashing a shot across goal to make it 3-0, scoring for the first time since October (70'). Seven minutes later, the hosts even almost had a fourth, with Josué Casimir playing the ball across goal only for Grégoire Coudert to react smartly.
The hosts would even keep pressing into added time, with Coudert keeping out Sinayoko twice late on. With the win, Auxerre move five points ahead of Nantes before the Bretons' match against Strasbourg tomorrow, while Brest may just have seen their faint hopes of European qualification ended, as they dropped to seven points and four places behind Rennes.
