Namaso's brace and a Faivre strike send Auxerre past bottom-dwellers Le Havre, 3-1

Danny Namaso tormented Le Havre twice and Romain Faivre put the finishing touch on it: Auxerre left the Stade CMA CGM Océane with a resounding 1-3 win that leaves the hosts stuck at the bottom of the table. In Ligue 1, Le Havre remain winless and Auxerre get a bit of breathing room, though the scoreline took a while to reflect just how even the game actually was.

For the first half hour, the match was tight, with chances at both ends: Josh Maja tested the keeper with a header in the 5th minute, Romain Faivre fired a shot just wide of the top corner in the 8th, and Mbwana Samatta had two clear looks between the 24th and 27th minutes that the visiting goalkeeper turned away low, down by the post. Le Havre even had the best chance of the closing stretch of the first half through Maja again, but the script flipped right before the break.

In the 39th minute, Danny Namaso finished at point blank range to the right side of the goal with a right-footed shot, set up by Kevin Danois, making it 0-1 at halftime.

The second half got away from Le Havre

In the second half, Auxerre stepped on the gas. In the 60th minute, Namaso struck again: Romain Faivre slipped a through ball and the forward finished low, by the left post, for 0-2. Le Havre responded quickly, just five minutes later, in the 65th, Rayan Fofana, who had just come on, pounced on a counterattack set up by Hakim Dongopandji to pull one back, also with a low shot by the left post: 1-2. The game was open again, but Auxerre still had more in the tank. Romain Faivre, who had already hit the post in the 71st minute, made no mistake in the 79th: a right-footed strike from outside the box, assisted by Namaso, made it 1-3, the final score.

What the numbers say

The stats reflect a far more even match than the final score suggests. Le Havre had more possession and more corners, but Auxerre were more clinical when it mattered.

The xG calculated after the fact from the match's shots also points to parity: 1.743 for Le Havre against 1.834 for Auxerre. Those figures confirm there was no huge gap in quality on the night, the visitors were simply sharper in the box at the key moments.

That also lines up, to some extent, with what we projected in the preview: we had forecast a very even match, with a 34% chance for Le Havre, 33% for a draw and 33% for Auxerre, with expected goals of 1.10 for the hosts and 1.08 for the visitors, a combined 2.18. The actual outcome, with a three-goal margin, strayed well beyond that tight forecast.

Where it leaves the table

For Le Havre, the loss leaves them with 2 points from 7 matches played, no wins, 2 draws and 5 losses, dead last in the standings. Auxerre, meanwhile, move to 9 points from 7 matches (3 wins, no draws and 4 losses), sitting in the lower middle of the table, 7 points clear of their opponent on the night. These numbers still say little about the rest of the season, but in the day to day grind of the league they are starting to carry weight, especially for a Le Havre side still chasing its first win.