Europa League, Celtic Glasgow 3 - 1 Stade rennais. In an absolutely crucial game, Stade Rennes failed to show up at the required level and was logically beaten by Celtic Glasgow. A defeat which his certainly ringing the end of Rennes’ European adventure, and which exposed big insufficiencies in the proposed content.
In Belgrade, they had been promised hell on earth and they experienced it. In Glasgow, the hell was rather paradisiac, starting in the whole Stadium singing along with all its energy on “You’ll Never Walk Alone”. But it takes more to unsettle the Stade Rennais, who started the game in the best of ways after Mangane headed in a corner following a corner-kick by Féret (0-1, 2’). In control, notably thanks to the activity of its midfield, the Rennais were struggling to concretise their chances however. Only Tettey, countered at the last second at the entrance of the penalty area after a back-pass from Théophile-Catherine, gave Forster something to worry about (25’).
For the fourth time this season, Rennes was in the lead in a Europa League game, and for the fourth time, Rennes saw its opponent catch up, following a string of individual errors. Forrest, firstly, profited of a bad pass from Pajot at midfield to get himself in position to shoot. His shot was spilled by Costil in the feet of the opportunistic Stokes (1-1, 30’). After seeing the story repeat itself week after week, one could have thought that the lessons were learned and that the story would be different this time. But the Stade Rennais doesn’t seem ready for change. On a long free-kick by Majstorovic, Samaras beat Tettey to the header and flicked the ball towards Stokes (well helped by Mangane’s blunder) who left Costil powerless with an unstoppable shot across to the net (21’ 42’).
Clearly irritated by the attitude of some of his players, Frédéric Antonetti replaced Boukari and Tettey by Montaño and Doumbia at half-time. Despite the manager’s anger at half-time, Rennes’ collective was falling apart by the second in a depressing second half. Too slow in the play, Rennes was barely ever dangerous, save for isolated situations. Just before the hour mark, Montaño had two opportunities to equalise (59’, 60’). In one of the rare good moves by Rennes, Hadji forced Forster to a fine save (76’) before seeing his header tipped away by the lanky Scottish goalkeeper (77’).
The difference between the team finally resulted in a third Scottish goal, scored by the latest entrant, Gary Hooper. Full of determination, he escaped between two Rennes players at midfield and transmitted the ball on the left wing to Samaras. The Greek (who attracted attention from Stade Rennes this summer) ran down the pitch before returning the ball to Hooper, at the centre of the field, who beat Costil from point-blank (3-1, 81’). Game Over, the Scottish supporters could even afford to dance the Poznan, singing and dancing on their seats with their backs to the pitch, since Stade Rennes’ chances were all but dashed. And as if it wasn’t enough, M’Vila was given his marching orders with five minutes left to play for a second yellow card. Definitely a night to forget for the “Rouge et Noir”, who can now equally forget about a most unlikely qualification for the next round.
CELTIC GLASGOW 3 - 1 STADE RENNAIS FC (half-time : 2-1)
Europa League, Group Phase, Game Week 4
Thursday, 3rd November 2011, 21:05
Celtic Park
Attendance : about 40 000 spectators
Referee : Bruno Paixão
Goals : Stokes (30’, 43’) and Hooper (82’) for Celtic Glasgow ; Mangane (2’) for Rennes.
Yellow Cards : Hooper (85’) for Celtic Glasgow ; M’Vila (40’, 86’), Montaño (69’), Pajot (88’) for Rennes.
Red Card : M’Vila (86’) for Rennes.
- Stade Rennais FC : Costil - Danzé, Mangane (cap), Mandjeck, Théophile-Catherine - M’Vila, Tettey (Doumbia, 46’), Pajot - Pitroipa, Boukari (Montaño, 46’), Féret (Hadji, 70’).
Manager : Frédéric Antonetti.
- Celtic Glasgow : Forster - Cha Du-Ri, Majstorovic, Loovens (cap), Matthews - Forrest (Hooper, 79’), Wanyama, Kayal, McCourt (Commons, 66’) - Stokes, Samaras.
Manager : Neil Lennon.
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