It is the third defeat of the season, but the second in a row after the 1-0 loss last week in Annecy, for the HAC, which is only two lengths ahead of its runner-up Bordeaux and five over Metz. , still in the fight for one of the two tickets for the L1. The Ciels and Marines, who hoped to celebrate the comeback in front of nearly 20,000 supporters at the Océane stadium, will no longer have the right to make mistakes on Friday in Bastia, current 4th who has just crushed Pau 6-2 at home. Otherwise, Bordeaux, 3-0 winner of Laval on Saturday, could have the opportunity to go back in front. And above all, a new poor performance from Le Havre would give hope to Metz, which was hung 1-1 at Guingamp and is moving to Sochaux. By far the best defense in the championship, the HAC was surprised by Valenciennes on the edge of the abyss but who played without complex to extricate themselves from the red zone (14th, 42 points).
They took the advantage in the first minutes on a penalty obtained and converted by Adrian Grbic and drove the point home just before the break on a powerful strike from Mohamed Kaba. Always borrowed in attack this season, the Le Havre remained too rough to come back to the score: only two shots on target out of 20 attempted, two of which hit the uprights. If nothing is yet fixed at the top of the table, the suspense also continues at the bottom, where Niort and Nîmes are already relegated but seven teams, including Annecy and Valenciennes, are still concerned by the 17th and 18th places, synonymous with relegation to National .
