Bordeaux dominated possession and scored twice as a reward, but were pegged back by two counter attacking goals from Dijon which saw the match finish as a 2-2 draw. Despite their dominance on the ball, Bordeaux struggled to create much in the way of clear chances and only scored thanks to a corner and a fortunate ricochet that saw Briand run through on goal. Meanwhile, Dijon were happy to sit back and absorb the pressure and looked to hit Bordeaux on the break using their pace in wide areas and this worked well thanks to a brace from Chouiar.
Dijon set up in a 4-1-4-1 system with Lautoa occupying the space between the midfield and defence. Their counter attacking plan worked out in the end, however, they were fortunate not to have come up against more creative opposition, as they regularly needlessly gifted possession to Bordeaux which invited pressure. They looked competent defensively for the most part but struggled to create when going forward, especially through the central third, and it was thanks to two individual goals from Chouiar that they were able to take away a point.
Ratings
- A1 – Very good, could play higher
- A2 – Strong potential to play higher
- B1 – Good, strong player at level
- B2 – Potential to be strong player at level
- C – Average for the level, rewatch
- D – Below average in this match
Player profile:
- Nationality: French
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 23/01/1999
- Current Club: Dijon
- Career: Lens, Dijon
- Position: Left Wing
- Secondary Position: Right Wing / 10
- Preferred foot: Right
Mounir Chouiar was his team’s main creative outlet whilst playing on the left wing in this match. When he got ball, he was always looking to make things happen and displayed great skill to take on and beat defenders. His acceleration and low centre of gravity allowed him to change directions very quickly in order to take the ball away from the opposition and this was key to his performance. He was very confident, happy to back his ability to retain possession even fairly deep in his own half, though he was tackled on a couple of occasions, and he rarely seemed rushed even when under pressure.
He stayed quite wide in this match rather than drifting inside and he used his pace to get in behind the full back several times. This was where both of his goals came from, the first of which saw him be played in behind the defence following a turnover in midfield and he showed great composure to carry the ball and calmly slot past the goalkeeper into the bottom corner. His second goal saw him cut inside from the left on to his favoured right foot and use his skill to create an opportunity to shoot – his shot was perfectly executed and curled into the far corner beyond the keeper’s reach. He did not show a particularly wide passing range, but he did find some good short passes and put a couple of dangerous deliveries in from set pieces in wide areas.
Defensively, the 21 year old tracked his man competently, although he also stayed high at times in an effort to exploit the space behind the full back on the counter attack. He pressed adequately when the ball was in his area of the pitch, and when he himself lost the ball, he reacted very quickly to try and hassle the opposition and regain possession. The Frenchman is not tall and is quite slight in build but used his body well and his lack of physicality rarely seemed to cause any issue.
Overall, Chouiar was particularly impressive in this match, as although his team failed to create much in the final third for large parts of the game, he took his chances expertly to ensure his side got a point.
Rating: A1
Player profile:
- Nationality: Moroccan
- Age: 24
- Date of birth: 30/03/1996
- Current Club: Dijon
- Career: FUS Rabat, Dijon
- Position: Centre Back
- Secondary Position: Left Back
- Preferred foot: Left
Aguerd had a solid game at centre back as Dijon limited Bordeaux to scoring from a corner and a fortunate deflection despite dominating possession. He read the play well to make interventions, nipping in front of the attacker to cleanly win the ball on a few occasions, whilst he also swept up some loose balls behind the defence. He was strong in challenges, winning possession or at least putting off his opponent and he stood up well to make some blocks of both shots and crosses. Aguerd did get caught in no man’s land once or twice, neither being in a position to tackle the forward nor block the cross and he was quite slow at times when defending in one v one situations. The 6’2 central defender is fairly slim in build but was good in the air and made some important clearing headers inside his own box.
When in possession, the 24 year old cut a composed figure, confidently passing out from defence and finding some great passes into the feet of the wide players or midfielders. He also displayed his passing vision by finding accurate long passes into the lone striker. Although he did hit a couple poor passes as well, he seemed competent on the ball.
On the whole, the Moroccan international put in a solid performance at centre back, having a tidy game in possession whilst being defensively consistent.
Rating: B1
Player profile:
- Nationality: Moroccan
- Age: 22
- Date of birth: 21/10/1997
- Current Club: Dijon, on loan from Schalke 04
- Career: Lille, Schalke 04, Dijon (L)
- Position: Left Back
- Secondary Position: Left Midfield
- Preferred foot: Left
Mendyl was inconsistent in this match whilst playing as left back. The Moroccan allowed too many crosses to come into the box, being drawn out of position by the winger and leaving the opposition full back plenty of space and time to run into and deliver. In one v one situations he was strong and fast which made him hard to beat and he was aggressive in challenges which had varied consequences, as sometimes he would come away with the ball whilst on other occasions he was guilty of overcommitting or making one or two late tackles. As a result of this aggression he gave his man little time to turn when facing their own goal and was happy to press his man backwards and hassled well. Perhaps his decision making could have been better in this match because of the fouls and he also needlessly allowed a long ball to bounce over his head which nearly lead to a Bordeuax chance.
Due to his side having such little possession, Mendyl rarely got the opportunity to venture forward but when he did get the chance he looked promising. He linked up well with his teammates in the final third and had a shot that went behind via the post, but aside form that he made little impact on his team’s attacking phases.
Overall, Mendyl displayed some potential in this game but the lack of opportunities for him to get forward coupled with his decision making meant that it wasn’t a great performance.
Rating: B2
Player profile:
- Nationality: Bissau-Guinean
- Age: 24
- Date of birth: 06/11/1995
- Current Club: Dijon
- Career: Sintrense, Sporting B, Benfica Castelo Branco (L), Aves (L), Dijon
- Position: Right Wing
- Secondary Position: Left Wing / Right Back
- Preferred foot: Right
Right winger Mama Baldé was unable to get into the game at all for Dijon before being withdrawn with ten minutes left to play. The 24 year old touched the ball just 27 times, the second least amount of any outfield player on either team in this match, rarely able to get the ball to even try and be creative. He did show small glimpses of ability with one or two progressive drives with the ball but he also lost the ball on several occasions through loose touches or passes. He was a strong physical presence on the right wing with a quick burst of pace but he was rarely able to use it and offered little to no threat from the right hand side.
Rating: C