Ligue 1, Lorient 0 - 2 Stade rennais. Dominated in the first half of its derby against Lorient, Stade Rennes finally left the Moustoir as winners. Thanks to the inefficiency of the Morbihannais striker in the first place, and then thanks to some clinical finishing. The Rennais are climbing up the table and back in fourth place.
The teams were coming with very different motivation for this derby played in front of Canal+’s cameras. While Lorient came in as a team in crisis, sinking nearer and nearer to the relegation zone, Stade Rennes had the opportunity to manage a great operation by winning the game, with a fourth place in the table at stake.
Showing more determination, the Merlus started the game better. Without really dominating the game, they still seemed a likely threat to Costil’s goal. It would take until the twenty-sixth minute, however, until the first real chances occurred. And it was for Rennes: after a run on the right wing following a delivery from Hadji, Montaño – who started the game instead of Kembo – addressed a low cross to Féret who, inexplicably, let the ball roll past him (25’).
This chance came as a wake-up call since, a few seconds later, it was Lorient who finally put Costil under some pressure. Autret managed a good run from the centre of the field before being upended by Mangane. The referee left the advantage since the ball then arrived to Emeghara, but the Rennes goalkeeper blocked his shot (26’). Gaining in confidence, the “Merlus” then tried to intensify the pressure on the Rennes goal. On a counter-attack, Mareque managed to cross from the left wing towards Emeghara, whose shot went just wide. The Swiss international was offside anyway (30’).
Eight minutes later, it was Romao who miskicked an opportunity that seemed impossible to miss. Still from the left wing, it was Monnet-Paquet this time who managed to centre the ball behind him for his midfielder. Romao’s powerful shot flew over the crossbar, even though the goal was wide open in front of him (38’).
After this attacking outburst for the Merlus, profiting of a miraculously blank score, the Rennais finally started to react. Following a very dangerous situation around Costil’s goal, the goalkeeper launched Montaño on the right side of midfield. The Colombian passed to Hadji at the centre of the field, who immediately delivered to Pitroipa, running his way past the defence. The Burkinabe came alone in front of Audard, and beat him with a perfect left-footed finish (0-1, 41’).
A stone-cold, clinical realism which brought Rennes back on the rails while leaving Lorient with a bitter feeling of distress. In the first half’s injury time, Audard even avoided his team to concede a second goal, pulling a good save to deflect a placed shot by Féret at the end of a fine attacking move.
Morally hurt, Christian Gourcuff’s players would not recover. In the second half, Rennes took full control of the game. Unable to respond, the “Merlus” were now on the back foot and could not help Rennes create multiple chances. First, Hadji couldn’t adjut his shot after a cross from Pitroipa (49’). Then, the Burkinabe winger, perfectly launched by Pajot on the left side, didn’t shoot strong enough to threaten Audard’s goal (61’).
Rarely dangerous since the break, the FC Lorient found a second wind with the entrances of Diarra and Campbell. More composed, theey still couldn’t create real clear chances, except for a deflected shot by Aliadière, following a defensive blunder from Mangane, but the ball flew wide (71’)
Exposing themselves to counter-attacks, the Lorientais eventually conceded for the second time. Following a clearance by Costil, the ball arrived on Pitroipa on the left. The Rennes winger applied a low-cross to Féret, but the playmaker avoided the ball and let it roll to Hadji, who placed a right-footer shot just inside the post (0-2, 79’).
Having managed to kill all the suspense of the game, Frédéric Antonetti’s players could quietly control the final minutes. An end of the game in which Kembo was even offered a chance to make the score-line heavier, but his shot was finally pushed away by Audard (90’+1). The score remained lock for a 2-0 victory, flattering for Rennes in view of the first half, less so after a second half they truly dominated.
Anyhow, it was the « Rouge et Noir » who left the Moustoir with all three points, and this despite several key players (Erding, Apam, Kana-Biyik). A result which allow them to realise an interesting leap in the league standings, reaching fourth position four points behind Lille. Certainly the best operation managed by any team in this twenty-sixth game week.
FC LORIENT 0 - 2 STADE RENNAIS FC (half-time : 0-1)
Ligue 1, Game Week 26
Sunday, March 4th, 2012, 21:00
Stade du Moustoir
Attendance : 15 310 spectators
Referee : Jean-Charles Cailleux
Goals : Pitroipa (41’) Hadji (79’) for Rennes.
Yellow Cards : Koné (22’), Gassama (64’) for Lorient.
- Stade rennais FC : Costil - Danzé, Mangane (cap), Boye, Théophile-Catherine - M’Vila, Pajot, Féret - Montaño (Kembo, 62’), Hadji, Pitroipa (Boukari 80’).
Manager : Frédéric Antonetti.
- FC Lorient : Audard (cap) - Gassama (Baca, 80’), Koné, Ecuele Manga, Mareque - Autret (Diarra, 64’), Romao, Mvuemba, Monnet-Paquet - Aliadière, Emeghara (Campbell, 69’).
Manager : Christian Gourcuff.
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