Saint-Étienne squanders two-goal lead at Metz, Cathro furious

AS Saint-Étienne squandered a two-goal advantage at Metz on Wednesday evening, conceding the equalizer (2-2) in the space of ten minutes after dominating until the 71st minute. A second consecutive slip-up for the Greens, who lost to Dunkerque (2-1) the previous week.

Ian Cathro made no attempt to hide his frustration at the final whistle. “We had a match that was won for us. We lost two points, we had the match in the bag,” regretted the Norwegian manager. The message sent to his squad is unambiguous: this kind of collapse is incompatible with the club’s stated objectives. “We’re going home saying we threw two points in the bin. We have ambitions, we can’t afford to do this again in the future.”

Cathro emphasized the lack of collective control that allowed Metz to get back into the match. “We can’t be a team that makes these kinds of mistakes,” he hammered home, before summing up his philosophy in a pithy formula: “When you’re leading 0-2 away, it has to end 0-2.”

Despite this latest dropped points, Saint-Étienne remains top of Ligue 2 with 16 points. But the recent trend — two victories squandered in as many matches — risks weighing on the morale of a dressing room that Cathro intends to quickly bring back in line.