Excellent Josh Maja, Samuel Kalu Pairing Earns Bordeaux Share Of The Spoils At St Etienne

The two Super Eagles stars were the heroes as a Maja strike off an excellent wing play by Samuel Kalu secured a 1-1 draw for Les Girondins at the Stade Geoffroy Guichard on Sunday.

Josh Maja put aside the disappointment of not being called up for the Super Eagles’ next pair of games to help Paulo Sousa’s men claim a share of the points at St. Etienne in a Week 28 Ligue 1 encounter.

Starting a match for the first time in his last five showings for Bordeaux, the 21-year-old repaid the manager’s trust with a well-taken opening goal.

After a goalless first half in which the visitors were slightly the better side, Maja reacted the quickest to a loose ball, just past the hour mark, in the penalty area to fire past Moulin in goal for the hosts.

A lot of credit for the goal though rests with Kalu, whose quick feet and dazzling run down the flank created the chance.

The goal is Maja’s sixth in 21 league appearances this campaign, but he has only started six of those games.

Kalu’s impressive display would have pleased Bordeaux’s manager, Sousa, who had frozen the Nigerian midfielder out of the side until his return against champions PSG two weeks ago.

However, Claude Le Puel’s men equalized minutes after Maja’s opener through a Denis Bouanga header to level proceedings and deny Maja and co the maximum points on offer.

The stalemate lifts Bordeaux above Nantes to 12th on the league table, nine points behind the European qualification spots.