As Saint-Etienne edge closer to the Ligue 1 finishing line, their lack of a star striker is causing concern at the Stade Geoffrey Guichard.
READ MORE:
Ligue 1: Saint-Etienne striking weaknesses threaten club’s Europa League ambitions
Saint-Etienne news
In a combined 44 appearances, the club’s two key forwards—Mevlut Erding and Ricky van Wolfswinkel—have managed just 11 goals.
Their impotence has prompted manager Christophe Galtier to experiment as he searches for a threat in the final third.
Against FC Lorient, for example, with the scores tied at 0-0 with 20 minutes to play, the coach opted not to replace the misfiring Erding with van Wolfswinkel.
Instead he turned to former AS Monaco and Nancy-Lorraine man Yohan Mollo, summoning the midfielder from the bench to take a role as a false nine.
The switch worked perfectly and Mollo opened the scoring with a deflected strike only two minutes after coming on.
The midfielder was absent in ASSE’s terrific victory over LOCS Lille at the weekend due to suspension, but when he returns, does he possess the class and invention to see the Stephanois over the line?
Mollo has spoken of his desire to add more goals to his game and with Galtier’s forwards struggling to ignite, one suspects he will be given the opportunity before the season is up