Deprived of their top scorer from last season and unable to sign a replacement, Angers did not have a choice but to turn to two 18-year-old strikers from their academy. Sidiki Ch\u00e9rif and Prosper Peter have shown that it should have been the only choice.<\/p>\n
The season started with a win for Angers, but it was a win that brought more fear than hope. Esteban Lepaul scored the only goal of the game as they beat Paris FC. The Frenchman had been a revelation in the second half of last season, as his nine goals ensured safety for Ligue 1\u2019s second lowest scorers. But Rennes were circling and he was gone by the end of August.<\/p>\n
Angers scrambled for a replacement and they seemed to have found him. R\u00e9my Labeau Lascary had already posed with the Angers shirt and trained with his new teammates when the DNCG, French football\u2019s financial watchdog, pulled the plug on the deal. Angers were unable to increase their wage bill, so he returned to Lens<\/a> before hastily heading out on loan to Brest. A move for Steve Mouni\u00e9 fell through for the same reason. Unable to sign players, they had to look to their academy. \u201cWe are obliged to develop players,\u201d Angers\u2019 assistant manager Lamine Mbaye tells us.<\/p>\n It was a sliding doors moment, a blessing in disguise, as it meant that Ch\u00e9rif and Peter \u2013 two \u201cendearing boys\u201d in the words of Mbaye \u2013 had to be thrust into the limelight. The teenagers have scored six of Angers\u2019 10 league goals this season (three apiece). Mbaye says the pair share an \u201caffinity\u201d that has been formed over years and transcends the pitch.<\/p>\n Ch\u00e9rif\u2019s chance came first. He made his debut at the age of 16 before injuries slowed his progress. \u201cIt was an experience that made him grow,\u201d says Mbaye. \u201cHe realised what he was doing may not have been perfect, and far away from a top-level player, in terms of recovery, of work. When you get injured a third time, you become aware of lots of things. He has grown from those experiences. Maybe he needed that to understand certain things. I have always had big hopes for him because he made a big impact at youth level.\u201d<\/p>\n The sentiment is shared by Julien Sourice, who coached Ch\u00e9rif when he was a youth player at Saumur FC. Sourice says it was a struggle to recruit the striker. \u201cHe wanted to stay with his friends, which I understood, because he was young, but he was so good and everyone wanted him,\u201d Sourice tells us. Ch\u00e9rif was destined to move on to a Ligue 1 club quickly but he made a lasting impression on his former manager, who describes him as a \u201crefreshing and carefree\u201d centre-forward. \u201cHe is a player who brings the team up the field. He is vertical, he breaks through the lines and gains his metres for his teams. He has always scored goals. He goes forward like no one will stop him.\u201d<\/p>\n Sourice says the characteristics he saw years ago were there in Ch\u00e9rif\u2019s performance against Auxerre<\/a> over the weekend. It was his run and cross that forced Cl\u00e9ment Akpa to put the ball in his own net and hand Angers the lead; it was Peter who finished the job, scoring Angers\u2019 second with the final whistle approaching. \u201cThey are two strikers who have a scent for goal,\u201d says Mbaye, who worked with the duo at under-19s, reserve and now at senior level.<\/p>\n Angers players and staff celebrate after their 2-0 win against Auxerre. Photograph: Eddy Lemaistre\/Icon Sport\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Mbaye has been particularly impressed by the maturity of Peter\u2019s performances: \u201cHe has surprised me by how he has adapted so quickly, which isn\u2019t easy. To carry the team, to be the goalscorer of the team at 18, it isn\u2019t easy.\u201d The Angers assistant manager says the pair \u201ccomplement\u201d each other. Ch\u00e9rif likes to play out wide and \u201cburst into space\u201d, whereas Peter is \u201cmore of a central player\u201d, a \u201cpivot player\u201d who is good in the air and likes to find spaces inside the box. He did just that on Sunday afternoon, showing his striker\u2019s instinct by following in Lilian Raolisoa\u2019s initial effort, which had been tipped on to a post.<\/p>\n The 2-0 win over Auxerre lifts Angers to 13th in Ligue 1, as they look to once again defy expectations and stave off the drop. Ch\u00e9rif and Peter will be crucial players if they are to reach that objective. And in the future they could be crucial to satisfying the club\u2019s off-field needs too. Jean-Matt\u00e9o Bahoya, now at Eintracht Frankfurt, and Mohamed-Ali Cho, now at Nice, both left the club for considerable fees. Selling their academy products is not just a strategy at Angers, it is about survival; clubs in England, Spain and Germany are already showing an interest in Ch\u00e9rif.<\/p>\n \u201cWe took a step into the unknown,\u201d said Angers\u2019 manager, Alexandre Dujeux, on Sunday. \u201cBut we didn\u2019t know how high they could go.\u201d Time will tell the heights Ch\u00e9rif and Peter can reach but we might not be asking that question had the club signed their top targets in the summer. Merci la DNCG!<\/p>\n Quick GuideLigue 1 results Show<\/p>\n Lorient 1-1 Toulouse<\/p>\n Angers 2-0 Auxerre<\/p>\n Metz 2-1 Nice<\/p>\n Strasbourg 2-0 Lille<\/p>\n Lyon 2-3 PSG<\/p>\n Marseille 3-0 Brest <\/p>\n Le Havre 1-1 Nantes<\/p>\n Monaco 1-4 Lens<\/p>\n Paris 0-1 Rennes<\/p>\n Thank you for your feedback.<\/p>\n Talking points<\/p>\n Paris Saint-Germain left it late to beat Lyon<\/a>, just as they did last weekend, when they saw off Nice with the final kick of the game. Jo\u00e3o Neves, one of the shortest players on the pitch, headed in the late winner on this occasion as PSG won 3-2 at the Groupama Stadium. Luis Enrique\u2019s side were pegged back twice and undone by two long balls over the top, the second scored by Ainsley Maitland-Niles, whose long-range chip caught out Lucas Chevalier, who had ventured into no man\u2019s land. But much of the post-match discussion revolved around refereeing decisions, with the Lyon defender Nicol\u00e1s Tagliafico shown a harsh second yellow just seconds before PSG\u2019s 95th-minute winner. \u201cPSG are the best team in Europe; they don\u2019t need 16 players on the pitch and I\u2019m not even counting the VAR,\u201d said Lyon\u2019s assistant manager Jorge Maciel. The game suggests PSG are not currently \u201cthe best team in Europe\u201d.<\/p>\n Jo\u00e3o Neves reacts after scoring PSG\u2019s late winner in Lyon. Photograph: Franco Arland\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Refereeing decisions were in the spotlight in Monaco, too. They were beaten 4-1 by Lens and have now registered back-to-back league defeats for the first time since October 2024. The game was decided in five frantic minutes before half-time: Wesley Sa\u00efd gave Lens a 2-1 lead before Folarin Balogun<\/a>, who had earlier equalised from the penalty spot, was shown a very harsh red card. Seconds later, the player he had fouled, Mamadou Sangar\u00e9, burst through the Monaco defence to double Lens\u2019 advantage and put the game out of sight. Monaco\u2019s CEO, Thiago Scuro, made a rare appearance in the mixed zone after the match to denounce the refereeing performance, but his complaints only mask Monaco\u2019s mediocrity against Lens. They have to react well after the international break to close the gap to the Champions League places.<\/p>\n