Strasbourg 5-1 Auxerre: a red card and a Gessime Yassine brace end a five-match winless run

Strasbourg had not won a league match since the opening weeks of the season, four straight defeats behind them going into this one. None of that showed here. Dário Essugo opened the scoring at 41', Martial Godo made it two early in the second half, and Conrad Harder converted a penalty at 62' before Cameron Archer gave Auxerre a brief reply at 68'. Gessime Yassine then put the result well beyond doubt with two goals of his own, at 77' and 85', for a 5-1 final score that flattered nobody but Strasbourg.

Ten men from the 74th minute

Auxerre's night unravelled in cards as much as goals. Lamine Sy, Christ Makosso and goalkeeper Paul Nardi were all booked before half-time was out of sight, and Lamfia Dioubaté — on as a substitute — was sent off at 74', reducing Auxerre to ten men for the last quarter of an hour. Strasbourg's own card count for the night: zero. Five corners to none and 11 fouls committed to Auxerre's 18 tell the same story from a different angle — this became one-way traffic well before the final whistle.

• 41' — Dário Essugo (Strasbourg), assist Oso
• 55' — Martial Godo (Strasbourg), assist Gessime Yassine
• 62' — Conrad Harder penalty (Strasbourg)
• 68' — Cameron Archer (Auxerre), assist Romain Faivre
• 74' — Lamfia Dioubaté sent off (Auxerre)
• 77' — Gessime Yassine (Strasbourg), assist Sebastian Nanasi
• 85' — Gessime Yassine header (Strasbourg), assist Oso

Strasbourg finally stop the bleeding

Before this, Strasbourg's last five had read draw, loss, loss, loss, loss — beaten by Paris FC, Nice, PSG and Rennes in turn, scoring only four goals across those five matches combined. One performance doesn't erase a run like that, but five goals in this one go a long way toward it.

Auxerre's good week turns sour

Auxerre arrived on the back of a reasonable spell — three wins in their previous five, including victories over Brest and a thumping 3-1 win at Le Havre — and had not lost in their last two. This result undoes a lot of that momentum in one afternoon, and the sending-off will not help the inquest.

What's next

Strasbourg went into the round 16th on 7 points from eight games; the win takes them to 10 points from nine, pulling them up and off the bottom of the table, clear of the relegation zone for now. Auxerre, 12th on 10 points before kick-off, stay on 10 from nine games but drop a couple of places on goal difference after conceding five.