Efficient Bettembourg display results in first casualty

The first managerial change of 2024/25 belongs to bottom-placed Mondercange, whose head coach Sébastien Mazurier handed in his resignation after a frankly dreadful start to the year for FCM (6 games, 0 points, -15 goal difference). The last nail in the coffin was a home defeat against SC Bettembourg, where Mazurier’s side dominated throughout long spells of the game but failed to make their chances count.

Last season’s Éierepromotioun champions Bettembourg exploited FCM’s inability to score and were quick to make the most of their own opportunities in front of goal. Donovan Bonet opened the scoring after latching onto a launched ball forward from goalkeeper Boris Bassène, before new signing Quissumgo Maconda ended all Mondercange ambitions by doubling the lead from Héarvin Djetou’s assist. Djetou then could have got his own name on the scoreline in stoppage time, but saw his penalty saved.

Maconda had never played outside of France in his career so far, but the 32-year-old striker’s debut in Luxembourg has definitely gone in the best way imaginable, as he needed only four minutes to score upon coming on from the bench.

This result will give Olivier Baudry’s crew some breathing space after a challenging start to the campaign, while the next three games (Jeunesse Esch at home, Hostert at home, Rosport away) can steer them comfortably clear from any relegation trouble if they manage to sustain their current form.

As for Mondercange, this season has so far been looking like a misstep for one of the youngest squads in the division. After successfully achieving their goal of staying up with a more experienced roster in the previous two years, they finally embarked on a new project and lured away some of the most exciting young talent from the lower divisions. As always, these projects need time, and FCM might still be able to gel well enough to save themselves from the drop, but right now, the situation is extremely delicate.

Whoever the next manager is in Mondercange’s quest to climb over the red line by the end of the season will have one of the most difficult tasks at hand across the league. The timing does little to help, too, as the international break would have provided all parties the perfect opportunities to take a step back, reflect, and start the new chapter with another man at the helm. Doing so when the league is in full flow can easily have a detrimental effect on the team’s preparations in training.

Impenetrable Differdange lead the way

FC Differdange have made it six out of six on Sunday, when they defeated Union Titus Pétange via a penalty from Jorginho in an otherwise cagey encounter. Their perfect record goes hand in hand with their number of consecutive clean sheets, both still alive since the first kick of the season in early August.

Signing goalkeeper Felipe (with a 20-year experience at top-level South American leagues and international competitions) was undeniably a crucial step to building such an impressive defensive record, but the 3-man backline are also contributing at both ends of the pitch, with ridiculous stability.

Their watertight performances have resulted in praise from opposing teams’ players and managers, although coach Pedro Resende has always stated his intentions to play on the front foot and focus on the attack. Well, this might just be what happens when two of the league’s most creative strikers are supported by a rock-solid fortress behind them.

Next week will see their toughest test to date in 2024/25, as the current leaders host second-placed Swift Hesperange, who also happen to be the highest scorers in the league. Hesper’s answer to Guillaume Trani is the ever-present German, Dominik Stolz, who started the season with five goals in six appearances.

Striker Karim Bouhmidi has also settled well into life in the Grand Duchy after a summer move to Holleschbierg, and will now see eye to eye with the deadliest finisher in the country in Jorginho, with a reasonable chance of coming out as a winner. So, the only question that remains is: can Hesperange match Differdange’s defensive skills? Or better yet, can they devise a way to do what no man has done over the season, and score past Felipe?

At 4:00pm on Sunday, the questions shall be answered by the sets of players and their respective managers. Until then, we can look forward to a tantalising match-up in Gameweek 7.

Martino fails to beat old employers

The other derby of the day besides FCD-Union was arguably Dudelange’s match against a hard-working Racing FCUL side much improved from last season after hiring Yannick Kakoko in the summer.

Kakoko arrived at RFCUL to replace previous manager Marco Martino, who was presented with the chance to manage the best team in the country over the current century in F91 Dudelange.

Martino’s results at Racing were a drop-off from past years’ performances, which was often frowned upon by the board despite severe financial cuts preventing the young head coach the chance to shape the team in his own image.

At Dudelange, the situation was somewhat similar: after years of lavish spending and declining international performances prompted the club to hit reset and focus their recruitment around younger talents and players from within the league.

Apart from a heavy beating in Differdange, F91 have been getting the results required to keep up with the elite, and Racing also got off to a surprisingly strong start despite their massively overhauled squad – they are the only ones still unbeaten besides leaders FCD.

On Sunday, it didn’t took long for Dudelange’s American playmaker Evan Rotundo to take the lead from Yannick Schaus’ assist, but the reply came quickly from the capital, as Okpo Mazie equalised from a wonderful pass by captain Farid Ikene.

Ikene continued his selfless afternoon by delivering a corner right onto Néstor Monge’s head, who completed the RFCUL turnaround. Samir Hadji led his team to a comeback with a pinpoint header into the top corner, but it proved insufficient as further goals by Moussa Seydi and Mazie put an end to the game in the closing stages.

Dudelange’s undoing was the same as in their 12-3 aggregate defeat against Häcken in Europe: even when they were dominating, the team lost all its organisation in a desperate attempt to score and close the game down as early as possible, when a more patient, structured approach might have been likelier to bear fruit.

F91 were incredibly close to completing their masterplan and thus cannot deem this match a complete failure, but they must learn how to handle the last stages of a game when they are chasing a winner or protecting the scoreline. This seems to be an issue that surfaces repeatedly, and their individual skills will not always be enough to cover up more complex tactical problems.

Racing thus now find themselves in the race for the podium, while Dudelange are sitting in lowly sixth. Their next game against Strassen does not sound like the guaranteed morale boost they need at the moment, either, while RFCUL are presented with an opportunity to extend their unbeaten streak with a good result against Mondorf this weekend at the Stade Achille Hammerel.