Les Parisiennes held to draw away to Le Havre

Les Parisiennes had several aims in their sights as they made the trip westward to take on Le Havre AC on Matchday 21 of the Arkema Première Ligue tonight: to perfect their on-pitch chemistry, to avoid any little injuries and to keep finding the back of the net after managing to score 18 goals in their previous three matches. Their hosts – who were sitting eighth in the table at kick-off – had already ensured their top-flight survival for next season and were therefore going into this fixture completely free of any pressure.

THE LINE-UP

Fabrice Abriel would set his starting XI up in a 4-3-3 formation, with an attacking trio of Crystal Dunn, Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Romée Leuchter sitting ahead of midfielders Grace Geyoro, Jackie Groenen and Jennifer Echegini. Meanwhile, at the back, Griedge Mbock and Eva Gaetino formed Paris's centre-back pairing, with Tara Elimbi Gilbert and Elisa De Almeida occupying the flanks and Mary Earps standing between the sticks.

THE MATCH

Les Parisiennes were up against a worthy opponent in the form of Le HAC, and tactically speaking, the match played out as expected: with Les Rouge et Bleue staying true to their principles and using a high block to win possession and to create overloads while the home side locked down their half of the pitch in order to break forward at pace on the counter-attack.

It would be fair to say that Paris hit the ground running in this game, and while Fabrice Abriel's players looked to dictate the play collectively, they would eventually find the opener from a set piece. After some pinball in the hosts' penalty area following a corner, France international Mbock took advantage of the chaos to hit a first-time shot on the turn that found its target (0-1, 11'). 

The joy would sadly be short-lived for Les Rouge et Bleue, though, as Mélinda Mendy volleyed home an equaliser after some messy Paris defending had gifted her the ball high up the pitch (1-1, 13'). Despite Les Parisiennes enjoying 68% of the possession in the first half, things would get even more frustrating for them on the half-hour mark, when Chancelle Effa Effa put the hosts into the lead by sliding a shot across goal and into the bottom-left corner of the net (2-1, 31').

With their pride wounded, Les Rouge et Bleue came back out from the changing rooms looking to ramp things up a notch, and that's exactly what helped them to net a deserved equaliser in what would be a hard-fought second half, as, having taken up a position in the penalty area, Echegini got herself onto the end of a pinpoint, in-swinging cross from De Almeida to place a bullet header past Lisa Lichtfus (2-2, 68'). Despite several attempts at goal in the final quarter of an hour, however, Paris were unable to turn their territorial domination into a late winner, and the two teams eventually settled for a draw.

THE NEXT MATCH 

With their final away game of the current Arkema Première Ligue season now out of the way, Les Rouge et Bleue will reach the peak of their 2024–2025 campaign in their next outing: a mouth-watering derby against Paris FC in the final of the Coupe de France Féminine at 15:00 CET on Saturday 3^rd May at Calais's Stade de l'Épopée. With this event set to give Les Parisiennes the chance to retain their title and to write a little more history, we recommend saving the date in your diary!