Coupe de France: Montpellier at the bottom of Le Puy after its elimination against a N2 team

Les Montpelliérains (en blanc) se sont montrés totalement impuissants face à une équipe ponote largement au-dessus. MAXPPP – Lionel Ciochetto

Montpellier a été humilié au Puy (4-0) en 32e de finale, samedi 21 décembre, après un match indigne d’une équipe de Ligue 1.

The harder the fall, but where will it stop?? Last in Ligue 1, Montpellier was eliminated from the Coupe de France by LePuy (4-0), a National 2 team that plays three divisions below it. Worse, the Montpellier team was humiliated by the Ponots in the second half. So much so that the public chanted “Olé, olé” with each pass from its players, while the Pailladins ran after it. There was also “And one, and two, and three zero”.

Except that the score got even higher. And it was with its head more than bowed that the MHSC left the pitch. As in 2020 in Belfort, where the Montpellier team had already been eliminated by an N2 team (0-0, 5 to 4 tab). “This one is going to hurt us. We've been eaten, we've been swept away”, coach Jean-Louis Gasset did not hide.

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Mental bankruptcy

Who had nevertheless warned his players about the quality of this Puy team, which had already beaten professional teams, including two from Ligue 2, last year. Proof of this distrust, the man with the cap had practically lined up his best team, since he had only made three changes compared to the one that had held Nice to a draw (2-2), with Falaye Sacko and Stefan Dzodic replacing Enzo Tchato and Nikola Maksimovic, Bertaud replacing Lecomte in goal.

But it was offensively that things initially failed, with Adams alone at six meters who only found the arms of Carvalho (5th), then Ferri whose shot was pushed back by the crossbar (7th). There were then rushes from Mousa Tamari but the Jordanian striker found the former Hérault goalkeeper in his path (24th, 32nd). It was practically the last chance of the match for Montpellier, who conceded the opening goal after a free kick from Pays, a deflection of Soualhia's header and Zogba's conclusion (43rd).

MHSC never recovered from the first goal

A first goal from which the Pailladins never recovered, who sank in the second half. “We gave up. Mentally, we don't have the right to give up,” stressed Jean-Louis Gasset, whose tactical reorganization to play everything for everything definitively condemned his team since Pays hammered the nail in the coffin (75th), before Diebold (78th) and Mayela (90th) closed the tomb.

A proof of Montpellier's impotence away from home, as underlined by its coach: “Since I arrived, we have played many away matches, we have not taken a point, we have not scored a goal. I hoped that in another competition, we could show more mental qualities…”

 

Disillusioned by the task he faces and the unknowns of the transfer window, the MHSC coach knows that he is “not going to sleep (his) hours until January 31st”. Hoping that he will get out of this nightmare.

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