Cathro snatches victory against Nantes but blasts refereeing at Geoffroy-Guichard

AS Saint-Étienne consolidated their position at the top of Ligue 2 on Saturday evening with a 1-0 victory over FC Nantes at Geoffroy-Guichard in Matchday 10. Augustine Boakye’s goal, scored in the closing moments, gave the Greens a provisional six-point lead over their nearest challenger.

Despite the result, Ian Cathro made no attempt to hide his frustration in the post-match press conference. The Scottish manager targeted referee Gaël Angoula, whom he judged too lenient in the face of aggressive challenges. “The first thing to say is that if we want to have good players in this championship, we have to whistle to protect them. Football is a sport we love to see through talented players, but they need to be able to express themselves on the pitch. And tonight we got a bit too close to the limit for me in certain situations,” he said.

Beyond the refereeing controversy, the coach was keen to highlight the collective progress of his squad. “We are a team that stands together, we are building through resilience, which we hadn’t felt at the start of the championship, we’re feeling it more over the last few matches. The team has turned a corner, it’s working with this notion of resilience,” he added.

This narrow but precious victory confirms the solidity of the Greens at the top of the table, even if Cathro clearly intends for the protection of technical players to become a subject of discussion within the championship’s governing bodies.