This Saturday, AS Saint-Étienne suffered its 18th defeat of the season in Ligue 1 against the Racing Club in Strasbourg. If the players of Saint-Étienne had hoped better offensively, the Strasbourgers were able to exploit the defensive flaws of the Greens to win. Zuriko Davitashvili scored the only Stéphanois goal of the meeting after several weeks of food shortages. There are only 3 days left in Saint-Étienne to hope to leave the 17th place and to go get at least a barricade place. Eirik Horneland’s men will play 2 of their last 3 home meetings, an advantage when we know the ability of Geoffroy Guichard Stadium to push this team to transcend.

Zuriko Davitashvili had started strong with the Greens. The Stéphanois took 4 days to score their first goal this season, but the Georgian gave Mathieu Cafaro a great decisive pass during the first Greens’ victory against Lille. He was then involved in Ibrahim Sissoko’s first goal in Nantes (2-2). In October, the former Bordeaux man had carried the ASSE. In front of Auxerre on the 7th day, Zuriko Davitashvili scored a triple, allowing the Greens to win 3-1. 3 weeks later, he scored both goals in the 4-2 defeat in Angers. The Georgian had then scored all the goals of ASSE in October, a performance that allowed him to win the UNFP trophy of the player of the month.

Zuriko Davitashvili, who was an equalizer in Strasbourg, scored his first goal with ASSE since 1 February in Lille. The Georgian international then opened the penalty score in his 4-1 defeat. He ended this weekend, with a series of 10 games without scoring, 12 weeks. The former Bordeauxman had no more scored in the Ligue 1 game since his second goal in Angers on 26 October. That’s 6 months without scoring anything other than a free-kick or penalty. During this period, Zuriko Davitashvili offered himself a direct free kick in the 2-1 defeat of the ASSE in Paris and a penalty against Lille. His goal in Strasbourg will enable him to regain confidence, a confidence that comes at a timely time before the last 3 decisive deadlines that the Greens expect.