Super substitute Lebo Mothiba masterminded Strasbourg’s escape from the jaws of defeat against Olympique Marseille on Saturday evening.
Mothiba scored to put Strasbourg on the path of a hard-fought come-from-behind two-all draw with Marseille in the French Ligue 1 affair.
The 26-year-old South African stepped onto Stade de la Meinau pitch in the second-half with Strasbourg trailing 0-2 to Marseille.
The visitors had gone ahead through Senegalese Bamba Dieng and Burkinabe Issa Kabore’s 8th and 36th minutes strikes.
COMETH LEBO, THE SAVIOUR
Strasbourg coach Julian Stephan then introduced the South African who eventually halved the deficit with a 76th minute goal.
The goal inspired Strasbourg to push for the equalizer which they eventually did.
Kelvin Gameiro completed the rescue mission by scoring fives minutes into injury time.
Strasbourg website admitted that before Mothiba’s introduction, they were staring defeat in the face before.
“A goal that gave hope to his entire team as well as to the 25,000 Racing supporters present in La Meinau,” the website reads.
“The Strasbourg striker presented himself to the journalists with his smile which characterizes him so much. The South African thanked the Strasbourg public for their support and dedicated his second goal.”
of the season to them. Watch his interview in the video above.
Mothiba and Gameiro also combined to score the previous weekend in a league game that ended 2-2 against Toulouse.
FANS RECOGNITION
The former Bafana Bafana striker’s heroics earned him Strasbourg’s standout performer of the match.
Mothiba finished ahead of Matz Salts and Kevin Gameiro who polled 35.1 percent and 2.2 percent respectively.
Strasbourg fans voted for Mothiba via the club’s website after his massive contribution in the game which ended two-all.
Mothiba had come off the bench to add his name on the scoresheet then won a penalty which Gameiro converted.
Anthony Roualt had scored for Toulouse in the 44th minute before Brechtdegaere doubled the lead.
Thereafter, Mothiba replaced Sanjin Pric in the 60th minute to form a three-pronged attacking trio alongside Habib Diallo and Gameiro.
The South African debuted in France for Ligue 2 side Valenciennes where he spent time on loan from Lille.
The 26-year-old returned to Lille the following season before jumping ship to start a new lease of life at Strasbourg.
However, his progress has been delayed by injuries.
Mothiba suffered the latest injury last month after he had played just 22 minutes
