Rennes lose ground

No shot on target in the first half

Rennes expected a difficult game in Corsica. And so it was. First in action through a header by Kana-Biyik over the crossbar (3’), and on a counter-attack led by Pitroipa (6’), the Bretons could have seen the game change radically as soon as the 11th minute. André was at the reception of a flick by Socrier and faced Costil, who, rushing late, upended the Corsican midfielder in his penalty area. Ajaccio was only offered a corner, when a penalty and a red card for the goalkeeper would have been unsurprising.

Rennes was lucky, but struggle to create chances. Without being truly dominated, Antonetti’s men were unable to accelerate the rhythm of the game; the impressive number of fouls committed didn’t help a fluid game either. As a consequence, set-pieces were multiplying but Stade Rennes couldn’t make the most of them, such as this free-kick taken by Féret and cleared away by the Ajaccio defence (34’). Meanwhile, the Corsican also had a chance on a free-kick by Cavalli, cleared away in a very peculiar manner by Costil (31’), away from his line.

Rennes loses contact with the leading teams

The Bretons had not seen the end of their troubles however. At the 53rd minute, Socrier missed an absolute sitter for Ajaccio. Connecting to a perfect centre by André, the striker blasted the ball over the empty goal from a metre. The Rennais were in danger once again a few minutes later, when they struggled to clear a confused situation in front of their goal-line, eventually clearing the ball away (61’).
Antonetti’s men were starting to take the advantage over their opponents however, with twenty-five minutes left to play. Ajaccio, not as dominant at midfield, was put on the back-foot more often and conceding a few chances, such as a shot off target by Pajot (69’) and another by Doumbia into Ochoa’s gloves (78’). On one of his accelerations, Pitroipa left the Corsican defence behind, but his effort on goal was countered and blocked by the Ajaccio keeper (71’).

Clearly visible, the Rennes effort remained insufficient, and it is paradoxically in the Bretons’ best period that Ajaccio scored the opener. A pass from Cavalli from the entrance of the Rennes penalty area surprised the “Rouge et Noire” defence, and Diawara hit the ball with his toes to score the only goal of the game (1-0, 83’). Unable to find solutions throughout the game, Stade Rennais was eventually punished by Ajaccio’s determination. Beaten in Nice two weeks ago, forced to a draw last week at home against Brest, the Bretons are once again losing points against a struggling opponent. Toulouse, Montpellier, Paris SG and Lille – all teams present in Ligue 1’s leading pack – came to take all three points in Corsica, Rennes leaves the island without a point. A bad omen?

Match Sheets

AC AJACCIO 1 - 0 STADE RENNAIS FC (half-time : 0-0)

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

Stade François Coty
Attendance : 5 645 spectators

Referee : Benoît Bastien

Goal : Diawara (83’) for Ajaccio.

Yellow Cards : Kana-Biyik (31’), Doumbia (41’), Montaño (66’) for Rennes. Mostefa (33’), André (46’), Cavalli (66’) for Ajaccio.

- Stade Rennais FC : Costil - Danzé, Kana-Biyik, Boye, Théophile-Catherine - M’Vila, Doumbia, Féret (Pajot, 56’) - Kembo (Montaño, 64’), Hadji, Pitroipa.

Manager : Frédéric Antonetti.

- AC Ajaccio : Ochoa - Poulard, Lippini, Diawara, Tiberi (Sammaritano, 63’) - Medjani, André, Pierazzi, Mostefa, Cavalli - Socrier (Delort, 63’ then Kinkela, 83’).

Manager : Olivier Pantaloni.