Rennes enjoy goal feast in Sochaux

- Happy Birthday Teddy !
A difficult birthday for Teddy Richert. The Sochaux captain had a nightmare on the day of his 37 years. Not at fault on any of Rennes’ goal, the goalkeeper was completely abandoned by his defences several times. On top of this, his centre back Mathieu Peybernes « offered » him two penalties to try and save. All in all, a night to forget for Sochaux’ veteran.

- A night of records ?
A team winning by 6 goals to 2 on the road in a Ligue 1 game, it doesn’t happen every week-end. Already, during the first game week of the season, with a solid victory over Dijon (5-1), the Rennes attack had already impressed. This time, it has lifted this squad up to the level of the best ever performances managed by the Stade Rennais away from home in Ligue 1. Last time Rennes had scored six goals away from home in the French top flight, it was in Guingamp (6-1) on March 17th 2001. A score-line which remains a record for the Stade Rennais, on a par with a victory in Metz (6-1 again) in August 1948.
For Sochaux, it had also been a while since such a rout had been experienced at the Stade Bonal. According to Opta, it takes a return to September 1976 to find trace of such a heavy defeat. Indeed, 35 years ago, Sochaux had suffered a home defeat on the same 2-6 score line against FC Nantes.

- Montaño, the club’s only leading goal scorer :
By beating Richert twice, Victor Hugo Montaño scored his second brace in Ligue 1 with the Stade Rennais, the second in competitive football after the one he scored against Cannes in the Coupe de France (7-0). This performance leaves him on his own at the top of Rennes’ goal scoring table both in Ligue 1 (4 goals) and in all competitions (7 goals).
The serenity of the Colombian striker should also be mentioned. After seing the referee ask him to retake a penalty he scored – with a powerful shot under the crossbar-, Montaño decided to shoot on the left, while Richert had anticipated a second “blast” in the middle and had stayed up at the centre of the goal.

- The attacking feast continues :
After a 2010-2011 season poor in goals, the early months of this 2011-2012 exercise look like an absolute attacking firework. In twelve games since the beginning of the season, Stade Rennes has scored no less than thirty-one goals in twelve games, an average of 2.5 goals per game. The best attack in Ligue 1 with seventeen units (before Montpellier, fifteen), Stade Rennes remains one of the worst defences (eleven goals conceded). On that standing however, the last position is now occupied by… the FC Sochaux, tied with Ajaccio (fifteen goals conceded).
It will also be noted that all the attacking players present at kick-off on Wednesday scored. All except, surprisingly, Jonathan Pitroipa who hasn’t given an assist either.

- M’Vila recovers :
Clumsy in the early minutes of the game, with several misplaced passes, Yann M’Vila went crescendo throughout the game, progressively taking the edge on Marvin Martin and Kévin Anin. At fault on the goal scored by Butin, the Rennes midfielder later made up for it with his influence on his team’s attacking moves.
Indeed, he was accessory in Rennes’ third goal, launching Théophile-Catherine on the left flank with one of his trade-mark long passes on the ground, before assisting Jirès Kembo for the final goal of the night. This is Yann M’Vila’s first assist of the season, he had delivered two last year.

- Benoît Bastien, a new face in Ligue 1 :
Aged 28, Benoît Bastien is a newcomer in the world of Ligue 1. The young referee has only been officiating in the top flight since the beginning of the season, and had previously refereed the games Brest - Évian and Caen - Toulouse. In Ligue 2 last season, M.Bastien was therefore only playing his third match in the French top division.

- Boye injured?
If one negative point was to be taken from Wednesday’s game, it would probably be the injury suffered by John Boye. In the second half, the Ghanaian defender saw Modibo Maïga step on his ankle, which didn’t prevent him from finishing the game. After the final whistle, the defender was the last Rennais to go back to the dressing room however, with a big strap on the ankle and supported by two members of the medical staff.
There is therefore some concern regarding the player, especially with the injuries of Mangane and Mavinga. If the latter was not completely recovered after his thigh contracture, it is likely that Yassine Jebbour would start as left back against Saint-Étienne this Sunday, with Théophile-Catherine sliding at centre back.

- «The ASNL connection» :
For the first time since Youssouf Hadji returned to Rennes, the Morrocan international started a game alongside Julien Féret. The two players were soon using their knowledge of each other within Rennes’ attacking line, with Hadji giving an assist to Féret for the 3-2.
The two players shone particularly against Sochaux. Both of them finished the game with a goal, an assist and a penalty won.

- The end of the curse :
After terminating its run without a win in Marseille, Stade Rennes ended up its poor run in Sochaux too. It had been twelve years since the “Rouge et Noir” went to win at Bonal in the league. Twelve years since Bigné, Nonda and Le Roux the three goal-scorers of this last success (3-0) were waiting for their successors. In one night, the Rennais have even scored more goals than during the whole ten games of their bad run at Bonal (five goals over a decade).
After the heavy defeat conceded last January in the same stadium, the victory of Wednesday even has a taste of revenge for a Rennes team which, on that night, played poorly and suffered with a lot of bad luck.

- Camara reunites with the Stade rennais :
A few weeks after his transfer from Rennes to Sochaux, Abdoul Camara reunited with his former team-mates. The left winger, who claimed he had left Brittany to get rid of a role of impact player he didn’t accept anymore, is yet to impose himself in the Doubs. Against Stade Rennes, Camara entered for the last thirty minutes. He is still waiting for his first start with Sochaux.
On the pitch, the former Rennais was never really able to cause any worries to the Rennes defence. He came across Yacine Brahimi for an interesting duel between two players who know each other perfectly (they were in the same generation at Rennes’ academy). Brahimi, meanwhile, was returning to the pitches after his fibula injury. The French-Algerian played the last fifteen minutes of the game, for his first game of the season in Ligue 1.

- More penalties... this time for Rennes :
Often confronted to such a situation since the beginning of the season, the Rennes defence hasn’t conceded any penalty this Wednesday. Instead, it was Youssouf Hadji and Julien Féret who successively forced Peybernes to foul them.
It doesn’t take to find the last time the « Rouge et Noir » had been awarded two penalties in the same game. Last time, it was against the Stade de Reims in the Coupe de France, when Agassa shone by stopping both Brahimi and Leroy’s spot-kicks. This time, Richert wasn’t as fortunate as the Reims goalkeeper.
This year, like in 2010-2011, it seems there isn’t a designated penalty taker in Rennes. On the five penalties obtained since the beginning of the season, there have been five different takers. Boukari and Féret missed their chance, before M’Vila, Montaño and Hadji all converted theirs. Last year, Rennes had obtained eight penalties, taken by seven different players.

- Antonetti regrets the first half :
During the post-game press conference, Frédéric Antonetti showed his satisfaction after his team’s large victory. However, the Rennes manager regretted that his players could not make the difference at the end of the first half they had already strongly dominated. “This is more than deserved, even though we should have killed the match by half-time, Antonetti affirmed. When you have that many chances, you have to be efficient. We were good in the use of the ball. At 2-2, I was upset, I said it to the players at half-time. We could not continue like that after our two games in Nancy and Udine without a win. I hope something will click with this victory. This is a path to keep on growing”.

- Sochaux’ self-criticism:
The losing side put the emphasis in admitting its own mistakes rather than Rennes’ superiority. “Usually, we press for the ball high on the pitch. Tonight, we didn’t do it, it’s a shame, Marvin Martin regretted. Our instructions were not to go to up to press the opposition, but we were put on the back-foot way too often, and when we pressed higher up, it was too later”. Same opinion from midfielder Vincent Nogueira. “Tactically Rennes was good, but above all we made too many mistakes. If we had played higher up on the pitch, the game could possibly have been different”, the Sochaux player argued.

- Rennes is second!
Good operation for Stade Rennes in the standings. With its victory, the Breton club wins five places and installs itself in second position, two points behind the leader, Montpellier. Rennes profit of the faux-pas by Lyon (0-1 in Caen), Toulouse (1-1 in Saint-Étienne), Lille (1-1 in Bordeaux) and Lorient (1-1 against Auxerre). The club aslo overtake Paris thanks to this victory by a four-goal margin, reaching a goal difference of +6.
Next Sunday, live on Canal+, Frédéric Antonetti’s team could play for the first position against Saint-Étienne, as long as Montpellier doesn’t beat Paris on the Saturday evening at La Mosson. Last year, it was on the same eighth game week, and already in front of the Canal+ cameras, that Rennes had taken the lead in Ligue 1 against Toulouse (3-1).

- Photo : srfc.frenchwill.fr
- Source of declarations : ouest-france.fr