Buts : Blas (11e) for Rennes // Kehrer (6e) et Balogun (22e) for Monaco.
What could be in the minds of the Stade Rennes faithful on Saturday evening, the day after yet another change at the head of the club – the appointment of a fifth president in ten years – while They were invited, at the same time, to come and party for the return home of the rosy-cheeked former pilot, Benjamin Bourigeaud? It’s hard to know in the middle of this strange big gap between past and future. In the skull of Julien Stéphan, arriving at the evening with the look of a communicant, less mystery: there was only this pass against AS Monaco, combine harvester at the start of the season, that the Rennes coach attacked with a good part of his pile of recruits (Mikayil Faye, Leo Østigard, Hans Hateboer, Glen Kamara, Albert Grønbæk) and that he completed, despite the pedal strokes, with a fourth bowl in seven matches (1-2 ).
Parade and Jean-Claude Dusse
Stéphan hoped that his flock would resist the Monegasque intensity and, good thing for them, they did so, particularly during a first act where they turned most of the duels, on the ground and in the air, in their direction thanks to a good Kamara-Matusiwa pair. Problem, despite the smoke bombs fired in homage to Bourige, they also and above all struggled to make a fire with the pieces of wood collected, only Ludovic Blas, with a delicious firecracker from the left which allowed the Bretons to equalize (11e), and Adrien Truffert caught the frame of Philipp Köhn, while Grønbæk struggled to find the light between the opposing sickles before going out injured. Opposite, Monaco, returning for the first time this season with a three-headed defense, did not really shine, but did the job, taking out the Colts at the right time, first on a placed face shot by Kehrer in the middle of three opponents on a corner at the very start of the match (6e), then on a furious sequence from Folarin Balogun, who caught Østigard on a step after a subtle line break from Eliesse Ben Seghir in full parade (22e).
Under the rain, the second period initially saw the Moroccan player blast Steve Mandanda’s bar and Arnaud Kalimuendo respond with a sharp strike on Köhn’s left post. The rest was largely to the advantage of the hosts, coherent and dynamic, to the point of pushing the Monegasques into a low block, even more with the impact of Julien Stéphan’s game of cartridges (combined entries of Carlos Andrés Gómez and Lorenz Assignon, Kamara’s exit, Blas’ retreat, then the arrival on stage of the racing car Mahamadou Nagida and Jota’s ideas to take risks in the form of a tribute to the late Jean-Claude Dusse), but nothing worked. In a strange atmosphere and at the end of a match where he showed a more reassuring face before taking a few whistles, Stade Rennes saw its supporters leave as they arrived: with heads full of question marks. AS Monaco is leader of Ligue 1.
Rennes Monaco prediction: Analysis, odds and prediction of the Ligue 1 match
