A 2-1 defeat on the road to Toulouse was the straw that broke the camel's back for departing Verts manager Olivier Dall'Oglio, with the club occupying the relegation play-off spot during the Christmas period. Eirik Horneland, who was named Norwegian Manager of the Year in 2022, took the unenviable hot-seat and faced a stiff initiation against a Reims outfit unbeaten in six meetings.
His players looked keen to impress and should have been in front when Mathieu Cafaro broke the offside trap and rounded Yehvann Diouf before skewing his left-footed effort into the side netting from a tight angle.
An even better chance was spurned moments later, with Louis Mouton initially doing everything right as he cut inside the rash challenge of Cedric Kipre only to rifle his shot against the base of the post - a moment symptomatic of both his and his side’s woes in front of goal.
They ultimately paid the price moments before the break, too, when the ball fell to Reims’ top scorer Keito Nakamura, who made no mistake while lashing home left-footed to end a six-game goal drought.
Whatever Horneland said at the break, it worked as his side completed a remarkable turnaround in a stunning 10-minute blitz after the restart.
Ghanaian summer signing Boakye had previously struggled to find his shooting boots since his arrival but showed the home fans what he is capable of, first tapping home at the back post after latching onto Mickaël Nadé’s cross before cutting in from the left and unleashing an unstoppable effort into Diouf’s top corner.
Luka Elsner’s side looked shell-shocked and, following three clean sheets in their last five were all at sea defensively. Sainte were able to put the game to bed on the counter-attack late on as Reims pushed forward in search of an equaliser.
Lucas Stassin, who earlier picked up an assist, nonchalantly chipped the ball over Diouf when one-on-one with the goalkeeper after evading Kipre’s challenge.
Horneland was in dreamland, and will no doubt wish his side could play at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard every week given they have won 15 of their 16 league points on home soil. With this just their second win in six league outings, this is at least something to build on for St Etienne, while Reims are now without a win in their past five top-flight matches.
Flashscore Player of the Match: Augustine Boakye (St Etienne)