Kevin Gamiero’s thunderous volley secured a 12th victory of the season and maximum points for the Alsatian club whose meteoric rise this season is partly due to Stephan’s methods and a clean attack with Ludovic Ajorque (10 goals), Kevin Gameiro (9 goals), Habib Diallo (8 goals) and midfielder Adrien Thomasson (7 goals) all made important contributions.

It remains to be seen whether Strasbourg will be able to challenge Christophe Galtier’s men but for now Stephan is happy to have reached and passed 40 points – a total of points which again ensures top-flight football next season.

Goal achieved

“I’m happy because I can now say that we have fulfilled our first objective, to have more than 40 points to be able to play again in Ligue 1 Uber Eats next season,” said a modest Stephan after Sunday afternoon’s victory.

The win at Angers was a key victory on a weekend where Nice slipped to a 2-0 defeat at Lyon and Rennes and Monaco sat fifth and sixth, both dropping valuable points. While Gameiro was the match winner at Stade Raymond Kopa, Stephan pointed to collective effort as the reason for his side’s victory.

“It was a collective win for us based on smart defense,” Stephan said in his post-match comments. “There were difficult moments in the match which we were able to manage by showing maturity. We were able to be pragmatic and that’s important for us. We didn’t have big chances to score second and kill the game but we didn’t suffer either. We controlled the game well and I’m happy with the result.”

💙 #SCORCSA (0-1) I 𝘘𝘜𝘌𝘓 𝘉𝘖𝘕𝘏𝘌𝘜𝘙 🥰

The beautiful celebration in front of our kop at the end of the meeting 🔥💥#Victoire #GenerationRacing pic.twitter.com/os6GbE80YE

— Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace (@RCSA) February 13, 2022

Strasbourg are the league’s second top scorer with 46 goals scored so far this season. Stephan’s men have already beaten Nice 3-0, as well as five wins over Saint-Etienne and Bordeaux and four over Lorient and show no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

>> TOUR 24 REVIEW