Le Guen's own goal gives Auxerre a late comeback win over Brest

Auxerre needed a spark, and it found one in the worst possible way for Brest: a ball that got away from Raphael Le Guen and wound up in his own net in the 82nd minute. That own goal gave Auxerre a 2-1 win at Stade de l'Abbe-Deschamps, in a Ligue 1 match that had looked like an uphill battle from early on.

Brest went ahead in the 22nd minute with a fine strike from Pathe Mboup, who curled a right-footed shot from outside the box after a free kick well worked by Joris Chotard. The ball skimmed low into the far side of the net, tight to the left post, with no chance for the home goalkeeper. That was the score at halftime, but Auxerre came out a different team after the break: just a minute into the second half, in the 46th, Cameron Archer leveled the match with a left-footed finish from the center of the box, after a through ball from Danny Namaso.

From there the game turned into a back-and-forth affair with more attempts than clear-cut chances. Auxerre kept pushing down the flanks through Naouirou Ahamada and Danny Namaso, while Brest looked for answers in the substitutions made by Julien Lachuer. But it was a fluke play that tipped the balance: in the 82nd minute, amid a late Auxerre push, the ball ended up in the back of Brest's net after deflecting off Le Guen. That 2-1 scoreline held up, even through the four minutes of stoppage time signaled by the fourth official.

What the numbers say

Auxerre was the sharper side over the 90 minutes, though not by an overwhelming margin. The home side had more possession, more shots, and above all, far more danger from set pieces: eight corners to Brest's three.

That edge shows up as well in the expected goals figures calculated after the match: Auxerre generated 0.81 xG compared to Brest's 0.35, a number that confirms the home side deserved, at the very least, not to lose.

The pre-match odds had been fairly evenly split: a 42% chance of an Auxerre win, 28% for a draw, and 30% for a Brest victory, with expected goals of 1.49 for the home side and 1.24 for Brest. The final score ended up matching that lean toward Auxerre, though the way it got there, an own goal against the visitors in the closing stretch, was not something any projection could have foreseen.

What the result means

With this win, Auxerre moves to 6 points in the tournament standings, the product of 2 wins and 3 losses in 5 matches played, and stays in ninth place in the table. Brest, meanwhile, sits on 5 points after 1 win, 2 draws and 2 losses, in eleventh place; just a single point separates the two clubs in the standings, something the match itself ended up reflecting. Brest leaves with the feeling of having controlled much of the game and having lost it to a detail beyond its control.