Troyes had conceded one goal in two games, and then Strasbourg’s substitutes scored three

Troyes had conceded one goal in their first two matches back in Ligue 1. On Sunday afternoon at the Stade de l’Aube they conceded six, and three of those were scored by Strasbourg substitutes in the closing minutes.

Strasbourg won 6-2. They had been losing after nine minutes.

Troyes led for half an hour and it looked deserved

Antoine Mille put the home side in front in the ninth minute, finishing an Anis Ouzenadji cross, and for a long stretch after that Troyes looked like a promoted side that had worked out how to be hard to beat. Two games back in the top flight, one goal conceded, starting with a goalless draw against Paris FC on the opening weekend. None of that was an accident.

Then came two minutes that undid it. Jacobo Ortega equalised in the 40th from the middle of the box after Gessime Yassine picked him out. Diogo Sousa made it 2-1 in the 42nd. Half-time arrived with Troyes a goal down and nothing obvious having gone wrong.

Reyna scored and then went off

Giovanni Reyna got the third in the 57th minute from the edge of the box, which was the goal that settled it. Six minutes later Reyna was withdrawn for Dario Essugo, one of three Strasbourg changes inside ten minutes.

Samuel Amo-Ameyaw had already replaced Sebastian Nanasi on 62 minutes. Conrad Harder came on for Ortega, the scorer of the equaliser, on 71. All three of those substitutions were made with the score at 3-1 and the result effectively settled, which is usually the cue for a match to peter out.

Instead Strasbourg scored three more

Amo-Ameyaw scored in the 85th minute, set up by Essugo. He scored again in the 88th. Harder made it six two minutes into stoppage time. Three goals from the 85th minute on, all of them from men who had been sitting down at half-time.

Jérémy Le Douaron, himself a Troyes substitute from the 56th minute, pulled one back at the very end. On another day that would be the story of a spirited response. Here it made the scoreline 6-2 instead of 6-1.

Six points and four

Strasbourg have six points from three matches, having lost one and won the other two. Troyes have four, from a win, a draw and this. Three games is not a season. But Troyes had conceded one goal in two matches before Sunday, and they have now conceded seven.

Strasbourg host Monaco, who have won all three of theirs, on 12 September. Troyes go to Lille the following day. For a side whose defensive record was the best thing about their return to the top flight, that is a difficult week to have in front of you.

Catch up on the rest of the Ligue 1 weekend