The same old song

Three days after its defeat to Udinese, Stade Rennais faced a much different opponent this Sunday at the Stade de la Route de Lorient. Clearly looking for the draw, the Lorrains proposed an all-defensive line-up which the “Rouge et Noir” had the mission to force.

Packed in front of its goal, unable to develop any attacking move, Nancy is far from being the most exciting team seen at the Route de Lorient. For fifteen minutes, it was difficult to see how Stade Rennes could find a breach through the opposition’s defence. Starting the game slowly, Frédéric Antonetti ‘s players struggled to up the rhythm of the match, making things much easier for Nancy.
Soon after the fifteen minutes mark, it was finally an excellent deep ball from M’Vila in one touch that would unlock the situation. Launched on the left flank, Pitroipa cut across and eliminated two defenders. The Burkinabe transmitted to Montaño at the penalty spot, who had time to control and beat N’Dy Assembé with an inside foot hit (18’).

The rest of the first half was quite poor from both sides in term of attacking play, with the number of clear chances counted on the fingers of one hand. In Nancy, there was only one attack following a ball lost by the Rennes midfield, but Costil answered the call and blocked the ball in front of Karaboué. Rennes, barely disorganised by replacement of Mavinga, injured, was clearly on top in terms of football and possession. The Bretons missed a first opportunity to break when Kembo – after a good pass by Féret relayed by Pitroipa – totally miscued his shot in front of N’Dy Assembé just before half-time.
In the second half, although Nancy seemed to be more eager to attack, Stade Rennais was once again the only team to show initiative upfront. On a deep ball by Pajot, Montaño was agonisingly close to his brace, but his shot was saved on the line by Lotiès as the Colombian had run the past the Nancy keeper. A few minutes later, it was Féret who came close to scoring the second goal, but his volley flew over the goals of N’Dy Assembé. The “Rouge et Noir” were also dangerous on set-pieces, and Kana-Biyik was close to cause worries to the goalkeeper.

Inefficient in front of the goal, the Rennais were still facing the threat of a Nancy equaliser. And although Jean Fernandez’ team seemed unlikely to score, a few messy situations in the Rennes area gave the Breton defence some frights. Despite this, the Stade Rennais continued to dominate, looking for that goal that would bring them to safety. Entered to replace Kembo, Youssouf Hadji also came in a goal scoring position, but the former Nancy man saw his powerful shot pushed away by the opposition’s keeper.
A few seconds later, the unavoidable happened. On a rather benign Nancy shot, the ball hit the shoulder of Kana-Biyik. In an extremely severe decision, M. Rainville decided to whistle for a penalty against the Rennes defender, who was cautioned in the process. The AS Nancy Lorraine was offered an undreamed opportunity to equalise, and Brazilian midfielder André Luiz didn’t miss his chance, scoring with a powerful hit under the bar.

Groggy after this trick of fate, the Rennais wouldn’t manage to snatch a victory in the last minutes of the game, despite another shot by Pitroipa well pushed away by N’Dy Assembé.
As against Udinese, the Stade Rennais abandoned three points that seemed promised to them. A counter-performance due to the contestable decision of M. Rainville as much as to their own inefficiency in front of the opposition’s goals. A bad result echoing the other draws and defeats conceded over the last few years in the league, against teams largely inferior to the “Rouge et Noir”.

Match Facts

STADE RENNAIS FC 1 - 1 AS NANCY-LORRAINE (half time : 1-0)

Ligue 1, Game Week 6
Sunday, September 18th, 2011, 17:00

Stade de la route de Lorient
Attendance : 15 509 spectators

Referee : Nicolas Rainville

Goals : Montaño (19’) for Rennes ; André Luiz (78’ pen.) for Nancy.

Yellow Cards : Théophile-Catherine (23’), M’Vila (77’) and Kana-Biyik (77’) for Rennes ; Lotiès (21’), André Luiz (38’), Moukandjo (50’) and Jeannot (86’) for Nancy.

- Stade rennais FC : Costil - Théophile-Catherine, Boye, Kana-Biyik, Mavinga (Danzé, 34’) - M’Vila (cap), Pajot, Féret - Kembo (Hadji, 59’), Montaño (Doumbia, 71’), Pitroipa.

Manager : Frédéric Antonetti.

- AS Nancy-Lorraine : N’Dy Assembé - Sané, Sami, Lotiès, Brison - Karaboué, Diakité, André Luiz (cap), Bakar (Mangani, 89’) - Niculae (Cuvillier, 81’), Moukandjo (Jeannot, 67’).

Manager : Jean Fernandez.