In a week that he faced claims of racism, Girondins de Bordeaux coach Willy Sagnol was moved to tears on Saturday when African striker Cheick Diabate hugged him after sealing a 2-1 win at Racing Club de Lens.
The victory lifted Bordeaux to third position, on 24 points.
Lens were fourth from bottom with three wins from 13 games.
Sagnol had been forced to apologize earlier after appearing to suggest in a newspaper interview that African players were lacking in “discipline” and “intelligence.”
The former France international was also whistled by home fans as he walked onto the Lens pitch.
So when 26-year-old Malian striker Diabate scored Bordeaux’s second goal just before halftime and ran over to hug Sagnol, the gesture left the coach wiping tears from his eyes.
Wahbi Khazri opened Bordeaux’s account with a powerful shot on 24 minutes before Diabate rounded the goalkeeper to double the tally on 41 minutes.
A Yoann Touzghar penalty gave Lens hope and brought the score back to 2-1 with 15 minutes to play, setting up a nervy closing spell.
Diabate refused point blank to be drawn on the subject.
“I didn’t see that [the crying]. I’m just focused on winning the game and getting the points,” he told French television at halftime.
Bordeaux ’keeper Cedric Carrasso said the coach had always had the support of the dressing room.
“The team believes in the coach and the team believes in the man. But he is only human and he can cry if he wants too,” he said.
Lens coach Antoine Kombouare, a Kanak from New Caledonia, shook Sagnol’s hand before the game as fans at the Stade Felix-Bollaert jeered the Bordeaux coach.
“We spoke on the phone and he heard me out and now the debate is closed,” said Kombouare, who described himself as hurt and humiliated by what Sagnol had said.
Sagnol himself also refused to go back over the racism debate or comment on the tears, only saying that the win had done him good after a hard week.
In other results, SC Bastia defeated Montpellier Herault 2-0, Stade Malherbe Caen Calvados lost to Nantes 1-2, Evian Thonon Gaillard beat OGC Nice 1-0 and Toulouse defeated Metz 3-0.
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