Ligue 1, Toulouse 2 - 1 Stade Rennais. Despite a clear domination by Toulouse, Stade Rennes managed a victory in the south of France thanks to goals by M’Vila and Montaño. Rennes earn their first victory on the road since September and keep their second place in the league, two points only behind the leader, Lille.
Once more handicapped by injuries, Rennes travelled to the Stadium Municipal without one of their men in form, Yacine Brahimi, the latest victim of Rennes’ cascade of injuries was replaced by Abdoul Camara on the left flank of Rennes’ attack.
However, Fréderic Antonetti enjoyed the returns of Georges Mandjeck, and more importantly Stéphane Dalmat, who returned at midfield to replace Jérôme Leroy. The rest of the team remained the same in comparison to the squad that won against Nice, and Montaño, doubtful before the game, was finally present at the centre-forward position.
After a short observation round, Toulouse were soon taking over possession of the ball and creating the best chances. Too quick for the Bretons in the ball transmission, the “Pitchounes” were at ease in the Rennes midfield, and a ball lost by Dalmat 30 metres off Rennes’ goal offered Moussa Sissoko the first chance of the game, but his shot was too wide and didn’t worry Nicolas Douchez (11’). Two minutes later, Franck Tabanou was at the reception of a superb flick by Santander and unleashed a powerful shot. Douchez was beaten, but the ball bounced off the crossbar and clear of the goal (13’).
Little by a little however, Rennes was entering in the game. Boukari tested young Toulouse goalkeeper Marc Vidal for the first time, but his left-footed strike was too soft (26’). A minute later, Machado escaped on the left side of Rennes’ defence and fired a crossed shot that Douchez could only deflect, but no Toulouse player had followed, and Rennes’ defence could clear themselves without difficulty (27’). Machado tried his luck twice more in the next minutes, but Douchez was vigilant in both occasions (30’, 31’)
Despite Toulouse monopolising the ball, the men from the South couldn’t make the difference, and Montaño was mightily close to opening the score after intercepting a bad pass by Daniel Congré in a position of last defender. However, the Colombian failed to keep his calm in front of Marc Vidal, and the young goalkeeper showed perfect timing to deny the Rennes striker (39’).
Toulouse thought they had avoided a worst case scenario, and it seemed a goalless half-time was approaching, when Antoine Devaux was booked for a foul on Montaño, 25 metres in front of the Toulouse goal. On the free-kick, Dalmat tapped the ball for M’Vila, whose powerful shot surprised Vidal, even though he was on the ball’s trajectory, and rolled in the net on the bounce (0-1, 45e). Toulouse were left to rue their missed opportunities, while the Rennais could come to the dressing room with gret satisfaction in the result, much less in the manner…
After the break, Rennes returned to the pitch with much better intentions, but without Dalmat, transparent throughout the first half and replaced by Fabien Lemoine. Seeming to have found the way to play their game again, the Bretons were agonisingly close to double their lead when, on a powerful shot by Camara pushed away by Vidal, Tettey recovered the ball only to shoot over the empty goal (53’).
Rennes had missed the opportunity to break, and Toulouse took control of the game once again, through a cross by Machado from the right, which Sissoko wasn’t able to connect to (60’). A minute later, Tabanou gave Romain Danzé the runaround on his left wing and delivered a powerful cross, Douchez boxed the ball straight on Théophile-Catherine who, under pressure from Santander, pushed the ball in his own net (1-1, 61’).
Rennes had their work cut out now, and Toulouse continued pushing through Sissoko, whose shot came off Nicolas Douchez’ right post (69’). Both teams were looking to force the decision and the ball was travelling from an end of the pitch to the other without rest. At the 75th minute, Souprayen received a lost ball in front of the Toulouse goal. Surprised, he couldn’t adjust his volley and propelled the ball over Vidal’s crossbar.
Both teams were attacking in a pretty inordinate way, and the match seemed on the verge of being decided on the throw of a dice… when Jérôme Leroy escaped in the back of Toulouse’s defence and was held by Gunino at the entrance of the penalty area. Mr Viléo didn’t hesitate to point at the penalty spot, and Montaño prepared to face… Ali Ahamada, the fourth Touloue goalkeeper entered to replace Marc Vidal, injured on the action leading to the penalty. Montaño blasted the balla t the centre of the goal, and gave the « Rouge et Noir » the lead (1-2, 88’).
Groggy, Toulouse still found the force to siege Nicolas Douchez’ goal but were unable to find the resources to equalise once again. Rennes won, against the run of play, their first victory on the road since September 25th and a trip to Nice (1-2, Matchday 7).
Above all, Rennes has managed a third consecutive victory before hosting László Bölöni’s RC Lens… and close the gap on Lille, defeated in Montpellier (1-0) and only two points above the Bretons. A certain ground for looking at the future serenely at the Route de Lorient.
TOULOUSE FC 1 - 2 STADE RENNAIS FC (half-time : 0-1)
Ligue 1, Game Week 24
Sunday, February 20th, 2011 21:00
Stadium Municipal, Toulouse
Attendance : 18 387 spectators
Referee : Pascal Viléo
Goals : M’Vila (45’+2) and Montaño (88’, pen.) for Rennes ; Theophile-Catherine (61e, o.g.) for Toulouse
Yellow Cards : Devaux (45’) for Toulouse, M’Vila (24’) for Rennes
- Stade Rennais FC : Douchez - Danzé (cap.), Boye, Théophile-Catherine, Souprayen - M’Vila, Tettey, Dalmat (Lemoine, 46’) – Boukari (Doumbia, 88’), Montaño, Camara (Leroy, 62’).
Manager : Frédéric Antonetti.
- Toulouse FC : Vidal (Ahamada, 85’) – Congré, Capoue, M’Bengue, Gunino – Devaux, Didot, Sissoko, Machado (Ben Yedder, 77’), Tabanou (Mansaré, 77’) - Santander
Manager: Alain Casanova.
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