Les Aiglons began this season with a UEFA Champions League qualifier, and were in the Coupe de France final last Friday, but were inexplicably at risk of concluding it in Ligue 2 after a dismal top-flight campaign.
This two-legged tie offered them a late reprieve, as they faced the 10-time French champions aiming to make an immediate return to competing amongst the country’s elite sides.
Claude Puel’s team hardly got off to an ideal start when Hicham Boudaoui was forced off injured following a collision with Abdoulaye Kanté, leaving the Algerian’s availability for Friday’s second leg in doubt.
With so much at stake, it was understandable that a tepid opening ensued. Irvin Cardona saw his cross-shot comfortably saved by Yehvann Diouf, while Morgan Sanson’s volley sailed well wide in a largely non-eventful first 20 minutes.
However, there was a moment of controversy before the break when referee Benoit Bastien was called over to the pitchside monitor to review Kojo Peprah’s challenge on Luan Gadegbeku.
Les Verts were originally awarded a free-kick on the edge of the area and were hoping for a penalty, but the decision was strangely reversed and a drop ball was contested.
Les Verts were looking more likely to strike first following the restart, as Zuriko Davitashvili made a jinking run in from the left and saw his curling right-footed effort go wide of the far post.
Augustine Boakye then tried his luck with a left-footed volley that went a whisker over the bar after Davitashvili’s corner was cleared into the Ghanian’s path.
But those raucous Saint-Etienne fans hoping this would lead to an opener for their team would be left disappointed, on a night where neither side did enough to take a coveted first-leg lead.
This spectacle will not be remembered with too much fondness, and Philippe Montanier’s men may regret not utilising the backing of their vociferous home crowd to steer them to victory, ahead of what promises to be a nerve-shredding second leg in three days’ time.
Meanwhile, Les Aiglons’ 24-season top-flight stay remains very much in the balance, in a campaign which still threatens to end in disastrous fashion.