Girondins lose to Niort in goalfest friendly match [5-3]

  After impressive friendly victories over Brentford and Boavista, the Girondins looked closer to home for their final friendly game ahead of the return of Ligue 2: Chamois Niortais. The opening exchanges were evenly-matched, but Yanis Merdji struck on the counter to put Niort ahead in the 12th minute. The Girondins looked to respond immediately, but Niort keeper Michel turned away shots from Aliou Badji and Dilane Bakwa (15’, 20’). Niort bided their time, and scored a second goal from only their second shot of the game, this time courtesy of Bilal Boutobba, 2-0 21’. Junior Mwanga finally managed to pull one back for Bordeaux in the 33rd minute, pouncing on a poor clearance. From then until half-time, the Girondins were totally dominant.

Josh Maja (38’) and Zuriko Davitashvili (40’) both came close to equalising, only to see their efforts stopped on the line. The second half picked up where the first left off, and Bordeaux soon had their equaliser thanks to a timely intervention by Malcom Bokélé, 2-2 48’.

The Girondins kept piling on the pressure, but Niort capitalised on a rare defensive error to restore their lead (3-2 53’). Bordeaux kept on pushing, but their luck was out today. Yoann Barbet, Dilane Bakwa and Aliou Badji all had decent chances (55’, 62’, 66’) but failed to equalise. Just as the tempo seemed to be dropping off, Boutobba pounced again for Niort to make it 4-2 (83’). Second-half sub Logan Delaurier-Chaubet reduced the deficit with a late strike (92’, 4-3) only to see Bilal Boutobba complete his hat-trick with a long-range effort (5-3, 93’).

This was the Girondins' first defeat in their mid-season friendlies, but the coaching staff will have learned much from the experience. The next game on the fixture list will be much more important, as Ligue 2 returns and Bordeaux travel to face Le Havre next Monday!