beIN SPORTS

By Jonathan Johnson (@Jon_LeGossip)

Gazelec Football Club Ajaccio closed out the first half of their debut Ligue 1 campaign with a 2-1 home win over struggling Olympique Lyonnais. The victory lifted the Corsicans to 12th, the highest position in the table that they have occupied in their short history in Le Championnat.

The win over OL also extended an impressive nine-game unbeaten run for Thierry Laurey’s minnows and six of those nine matches have finished in wins for the Islanders. Up until mid-October, Gazelec’s maiden Ligue 1 outing was going as many had expected it to. The team were struggling down at the bottom of the table and without a win in their 10 opening fixtures, although they had not been thoroughly outclassed by any of their more reputable opponents either.

Even a visit to the capital to face runaway Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain at Parc des Princes in the second round of games only brought a 2-0 defeat. That was one of only four times that more than one goal has beaten the men from Ajaccio. After a 2-0 loss away at AS Saint-Etienne though, Gazelec’s luck started to change. A surprise 3-1 home win over the then in-form OGC Nice was followed by a 2-0 home victory against Girondins de Bordeaux and the Corsicans slowly started to climb away from the 20th spot they had exclusively inhabited since the end of August.

Those successes against Claude Puel and Willy Sagnol’s sides were followed by wins away from home against Stade de Reims and island rivals SC Bastia and by late November, Gazelec were out of the relegation zone and in 16th position. The positivity created by that run of four consecutive Ligue 1 victories was tempered by a 1-0 defeat at home to EA Guingamp after extra time in the Coupe de la Ligue round of 32. However, draws against FC Lorient, FC Nantes and Olympique de Marseille and wins over Montpellier HSC and Lyon have Gazelec looking relatively comfortable in 12th this winter break.

With a budget almost twice as small as the second lowest in Le Championnat (€13.8 million compared with €23 million), Gazelec’s superb recent run deserves immense credit. Laurey has put together a sturdy squad at Stade Ange Casanova, with many experienced faces in the group. Veteran figures like former Valenciennes pair Gregory Pujol and David Ducourtioux, as well as Jeremie Brechet and Jerome Le Moigne, all possess substantial Ligue 1 know-how.

On top of them, intelligent bargain signings like Kader Mangane, Alexandre Coeff and Jacques Zoua have added experience and quality relative to the club’s stature on a shoestring budget. However, the star of Gazelec’s season so far has been midfielder Mohamed Larbi. The Tunisian has scored six goals and provided one assist from 16 Ligue 1 appearances this campaign and along with Zoua, is the team’s main source of goals.

Larbi was signed from Championnat National (the semi-professional French third tier) outfit Vendee Lucon Football in the summer of 2013 and helped the team in their phenomenal two consecutive promotions in as many seasons to reach Ligue 1. The 28-year-old is not the only one to have risen to the French top flight with Gazelec. Goalkeeper Clement Maury, captain and central defender Roderic Filippi (he of the Marco Sailer-esque beard), as well as midfielder Louis Poggi and striker John Tshibumbu, have also risen through the levels with Laurey’s team.

That Gazelec were able to reach Ligue 1, considering their modest resources, was a minor miracle. However, for the team to be holding its own in Le Championnat and enjoying an unbeaten run of nine games thanks to wins against the likes of Lyon is nothing short of a full-blown miracle. Laurey deserves immense credit for the job he has done with the team since taking over in February of 2013, while the players are worthy of recognition of the excellent collective effort so far.

There is a long way to go before Gazelec secure their safety and guarantee a second season of Ligue 1 football. However, while third-placed Angers SCO are enjoying plenty of praise for their exploits so far on a budget of €24 million, the Corsicans merit special acknowledgement for being only seven points behind Le SCO in their maiden top flight campaign with a budget almost half the size.

If Laurey can keep Gazelec in Ligue 1 this season, that staggering achievement would surely usurp EA Guingamp coach Jocelyn Gourvennec’s impressive ability to keep the Breton minnows in Le Championnat since their 2013 promotion.