Thierno Ballo Still First, But Trend is Downward
AS Saint-Etienne remains at the top of Ligue 2, but their lead is shrinking.
Austrian international Thierno Ballo has had a strong start to the season with AS Saint-Etienne in France's Ligue 2.
Saint-Etienne won all of their first five games of the season. Ballo impressed in his first matches for his new club with four goals and two assists in the first five rounds – but since then, the engine has been sputtering a bit.
On matchday 6, they suffered their first defeat of the season against USL Dunkerque (1:2), followed on Saturday by a 2:2 draw away at FC Metz.
Ballo was in the starting lineup for both matches, but could not contribute any goal. In Metz, the Austrian international was substituted in the 58th minute with the score at 0:0. Shortly after, Saint-Etienne took a 2:0 lead, but then conceded two late goals.
Ballo Fourth-Best Scorer in Ligue 2
Although the last two matchdays were far from ideal, AS Saint-Etienne remains in first place in Ligue 2 with 16 points, but is now only two points ahead of their closest pursuer, FC Red Star.
With six scorer points, Ballo is in fourth place in the league-wide ranking – two scorer points behind his teammate Irvin Cardona (4 goals, 4 assists), who currently leads the league.
