Po beat Dunkirk 2:0 at Nost Camp on Friday evening to extend their unbeaten run in Ligue 2. The hosts moved into seventh place with 11 points, while the visitors dropped to 12th after seven matches. My prediction before kick-off backed the away side at 48 per cent confidence, but the game refused to follow that script.
The turning point came early. Victor Mayela received a red card in the eleventh minute and Po never looked back. By then the visitors were already pinned back, defending deep and waiting for something to happen. Anthony Briançon picked up a yellow in the sixteenth minute as Po felt the pressure without breaking through.
Jessy Benet converted a penalty in the forty-ninth minute to end a barren spell for the home side. The spot-kick came after a foul inside the box, and the goalkeeper had no chance. It was the moment Po turned it around after the break. Abdoulaye Mbaye added a second in the eighty-eighth minute, running onto a cross he never reached at first, then latching onto the rebound.
Po dominated possession at 67 per cent and registered ten shots on target compared to three for the visitors. Dunkirk made twenty-three clearances and their goalkeeper saved eight times. To be fair the visitors worked hard in defence, but they cannot afford another slip when they are already chasing a game.
Both sides had created two big chances, but Po were more clinical. The hosts completed 497 passes to 210 for Dunkirk, and their key passes tally of 13 versus five tells the story. What matters here is not the possession figure but the fact that Po took their chances when it counted.
With eight points each, the gap between them narrows. Po sit 13th and Dunkirk 11th, but this result shifts the balance. The visitors came for a cross they never reached in the second half, and the match was decided in those final twenty minutes. And here's the thing — one red card changes everything, and Po knew how to live with it.