Saint-Étienne captain Anthony Briançon was forced to leave the field yesterday after a collision with the goalpost left him with a bad leg injury. The 28-year-old defensive midfielder had tried – in vain – to prevent a goal-bound strike after the goalkeeper had been caught in no-man’s-land in the 89th minute. His efforts were initially successful, but the rebound was scored by Jodel Dossou.
Les Stéphanois were on track to register an important win against Sochaux, 3rd in Ligue 2, before Briançon’s collision and Sochaux’s late equaliser. In a heart-wrenching turn of events, Les Lionceaux scored another in the 94th minute to steal the three points from the recently-relegated Forez side.
According to Mohamed Toubache-Ter, Briançon was taken by ambulance to hospital, where he required 21 stitches to seal his wound. Toubache-Ter also added that Les Verts‘ captain would likely miss the next three to six weeks, depending on how the injury heals.
Saint-Étienne badly needed the points: they are now 19th in France’s second division after a torrid first half of the season. But perhaps worse than dropping three points in the final five minutes, the record Ligue 1 winning side (10 titles) are now without an important figure in the dressing room as they approach several important fixtures against potential relegation rivals.
GFFN | Brendan Cox
