As soon as the last successful shot on goal by the Auxerrois Birama Touré, synonymous with victory for the Burgundians, the field was invaded by thousands of angry supporters who sent pyrotechnic devices towards the official stand protected by the forces of the order while the Saint-Etienne players, in danger, were surrounded by the stewards and rushed, like the other players in the match, towards the locker room.

Supporters invaded the lawn of the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium and threw horizontal smoke bombs after the L1/L2 return barrage lost on May 29, 2022 by Saint-Étienne against Auxerre (1-1/1-1, 5 pens). 4), which relegates the Greens to Ligue 2. JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK AFP

The Geoffroy-Guichard stadium again risks serious sanctions even though it is on borrowed time because of multiple incidents.

On Sunday, the Snella stand was closed following incidents during the reception of Monaco on April 23, a clearly insufficient sanction which put thousands of people in danger.

Beyond this round-trip dam against Auxerre, relegation sanctions a disastrous season for Saint-Etienne, who had snatched the right to play in the dams after a draw in Nantes (1-1) during the 38th. and last day of the championship.

Over the season, ASSE only totaled 32 points, which could, in most cases, have sent it directly to Ligue 2.

The hoped-for miracle with the arrival of Pascal Dupraz, who had already contributed to the rescues of Toulouse (2016) or Evian-Thonon-Gaillard (2014), did not give the expected effect.

Saint-Etienne coach Pascal Dupraz, during the behind-the-scenes match of the 37th day of Ligue 1 against Reims, May 14, 2022 at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard JEFF PACHOUD AFP / Archives

Of the last eight matches, Saint-Etienne has not won any with four defeats and four draws, the last of which ended in a disastrous penalty shootout.

However, the Greens had obtained an interesting draw (1-1) last Thursday at the Abbé-Deschamps stadium, with an away goal by Zaydou Youssouf which gave ASSE a very slight advantage.

But on Sunday, Hamza Sakhi gave Auxerre a deserved advantage by scoring with a header after receiving a cross delivered from the right wing by Mathias Autret (51).

Mahdi Camara equalized with a header after Enzo Crivelli's first header from a corner (76), completing a good period for the Stéphanois who were perfectly supported until the end of the penalty shootout by 32,000 supporters.

The joy of the Stéphanois, after having equalized from a corner against Auxerre, during the L1/L2 return play-off, on May 29, 2022 at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK AFP

In Auxerre, goalkeeper Donovan Léon was decisive in his team's victory, successfully intervening in front of Denis Bouanga at the start of the match (2, 7).

Subsequently, the Icaun goalkeeper intervened on a shot from Adil Aouchiche (31) while Bouanga, despite a good position, missed the target when receiving a cross from Romain Hamouma (46).

Léon was also decisive on shots from Arnaud Nordin (84, 105, 120) or Bouanga again (87) in front of which Carlens Arcus also intervened well (115).

And he magnificently diverted the first shot on goal from Ryad Boudebouz, the only failure of the shooters during the session.

Auxerre goalkeeper Donovan Leon deflects the shot from Algerian midfielder Saint-Etienne, Ryad Boudebouz, during the penalty shootout, after extra time (1-1), in the second leg of the L1/L2 play-off for accession to L1, May 29, 2022 at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard Jean-Philippe KSIAZEK AFP

Unlike Dupraz, on the other bench, Jean-Marc Furlan obtains with Auxerre his fifth accession to Ligue 1 after that acquired with Troyes (2005, 2012, 2015) and Brest (2019).

© 2022 AFP