English coach Liam Rosenior’s first season in charge of Strasbourg is still going well

By Canadian Press on March 9, 2025.

PARIS (AP) — Liam Rosenior’s first season in charge of Strasbourg is going well and the Alsace-based club moved provisionally up to sixth place in Ligue 1 after winning 1-0 at Nantes on Sunday.

The 40-year-old Englishman, whose father enjoyed a career as a bustling striker in the 1980s, played in the Premier League for Fulham, Reading and Hull as a defender.

Rosenior’s coaching career started three years ago with a brief stint at English club Derby and he then took charge of Hull. He was among the nominees last season for manager of the year in the second-tier Championship.

Rosenior has turned Strasbourg into a well-organized team which has a strong defense and is dangerous counterattacking down the flanks.

Strasbourg’s goal came in the 79th minute when Félix Lemaréchal turned in a cross from tricky right winger Dilane Bakwa.

Nice hosts

Third-placed Nice hosted Lyon later Sunday needing a win to move level on points with second-placed Marseille. A draw for Lyon would be enough to reclaim sixth spot from Strasbourg on goal difference.

Lyon coach Paulo Fonseca was starting his nine-month touchline ban for aggressively confronting referee Benoît Millot last Sunday.

At the bottom, strugglers Le Havre and Saint-Etienne drew 1-1 to stay deep in relegation trouble.

Lucas Stassin opened the scoring in the 10th following a scramble and Abdoulaye Touré equalized for Le Havre in first-half stoppage time.

Other results

Midtable Brest won 2-0 at home to Angers.

Forward Abdallah Sima headed home from a corner against his former club, but left the field close to halftime with an adductor muscle injury. He was replaced by Romain Faivre, who scored the second goal.

Reims lost 2-0 at home to Auxerre to stay 15th and one place above Le Havre in the relegation playoff spot. Saint-Etienne is 17th and Montpellier last in the 18-team league.

Auxerre’s goals came in the first half from Canada forward Theo Bair and Hamed Traoré with his 10th of season.

All the players in this weekend’s games have “WO=MAN” written on the back of their jerseys instead of their names as part of the French league’s initiative centered around International Women’s Day.

Runaway leader PSG won 4-1 at Rennes on Saturday and is 16 points clear of Marseille, which conceded a stoppage-time goal in a 1-0 home loss to Lens on Saturday.

PSG hosts Marseille next Sunday at Parc des Princes. ___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Jerome Pugmire, The Associated Press