Baptism of fire for Souprayen

- Dismaying :
After forgetting to give an obvious penalty on Yacine Brahimi, Sébastien Moreira did not want to admit his mistake when showed the images after the game. After several replays, he even declared that the decision to award a free-kick outside the penalty area “seems logical” while the Rennes playmaker was fouled… inside the sixteen meters. Frédéric Antonetti’s men performance was certainly too disappointing to hide behind the referee’s mistakes. But adding up to Mangane’s sending-off, the bill seems rather heavy.

-  Souprayen discovers the Ligue 1 :
Entered ten minutes before the final whistle to replace Sylvain Marveaux, Samuel Souprayen played his first minutes in Ligue 1. An important moment for the young man from Reunion Island, who had failed top experience top-flight football since he turned pro. This Premiere could have happened three weeks earlier during the game against Toulouse (3-1). Waiting for the ball to come out of play, Souprayen was about to enter the pitch when the game’s referee whistled… for the end of the game.

- Joris Marveaux likes Rennes… :
After scoring a brace last season against Rennes (3-1, Game Week 26), Joris Marveaux, Sylvain’s brother, scored his third goal against the Stade Rennais. In front of part of his family, the player preferred not to celebrate his goal by “respect” as he later confirmed to Foot+.

- …Mangane doesn’t like Montpellier :
Sent off after a relatively unimpressive clash with Souleymane Camara, Mangane received his fourth red card since he arrived in the French league, his third with Rennes. Last year, the Senegal International had already been sent-off at… Montpellier (3-1). End of a streak for him then, as he ad started twenty-one games in a row with Rennes.

- "Lights, camera, action" :
Comical scenes in the game’s injury time. Looking for any ways to gain some time, Geoffroy Jourdren and Emir Spahic fancied themselves as B-Movie actors. On a free-kick thirty meters away from their goal-line, the two Montpellier men spent 30 seconds playing a “to you, to me” game to choose who would take the kick, until Mr Moreira came to stop their play. Result: a yellow card for Spahic.

- Théophile-Catherine isn’t unbeaten anymore :
A first time for Théophile-Catherine (and Yacine Brahimi), who experienced his first Ligue 1 defeat. However, his balance remains flattering with one defeat in twelve games. Another statistic to underline, the 2008 Gambardella Cup winner hasn’t received a single booking since his professional debuts.

- Foir’Fouille :
Since September 11th and the home game against Nancy (1-2, Game Week 5), Montpellier had been playing without a sponsor on their shirt. Indeed, in April this year, the Montpellier management had been signing a partnership with Itechsoft, an online betting company. However, after Itechsoft was refused the authorisation to offer a betting service, they could not appear on the Montpellier HSC anymore. Therefore, the Montpellier management was forced to look out for a new sponsor: La Foir’fouille
- Record beaten :
It had been since October 17th last year, since Rennes’ attack had shown unable to score in two consecutive games. After a defeat in Bordeaux (1-0), the “Rouge et Noir” had known the same misfortune at home against Auxerre (0-1). The negative streak then went on with a goalless draw in Lille.

- Ten Years later... :
Montpellier had not won at the Stade de la Route de Lorient since the 1999-2000 season. On that year, they won by three goals to one with goals by Maoulida, Rui Pataca and Sylvestre against Shabani Nonda for Rennes. Montpellier were then playing with many player who once wore the Rennes shirt : Cédric Barbosa (2003-2006), Philippe Delaye (June 2000 - January 2004), Pascal Fugier (1994-1996), Toifilou Maoulida (January 2002 to June 2006) and Olivier Sorlin (December 2001 to June 2005/January 2006 to December 2008).
Starting line-up : Revault - Diatta, Arribagé, Sommeil, Escudé - Grégoire, Le Roux, Gourvennec (Citony, 69’), Bardon (Bigné, 69’) - Diouf, Nonda.

- 1900 :
Against Montpellier, Stade Rennes played the 1900th game in their history in the French top flight. Since 1932, the “Rouge et Noir” show a negative balance with 650 wins, 763 defeats and 487 draws. The goals balance is also negative with 2593 goals scored and 2895 goals conceded.

What they said...

- Frédéric Antonetti : “ We are first and very young! It’s not in the Stade Rennes culture to be staying at the top like this. It’s a lot of pressure. It is something for Marseille, Lyon, clubs that are used to it. It’s all part of a culture! The experienced teams, when they are in this situation they are in full confidence and for us, it’s the other way round. You can see we still have a long way to go.” (lefigaro.fr)

- René Girard (Montpellier’s manager) : “Mentally, we reached another level tonight, and we needed it to gain in confidence. Let’s not forget we were visiting the leaders tonight. Rennes had a very good start of the season, and honestly, it feels good.” (lequipe.fr)

- Yann M’Vila : “That goal really punished us. We had lost of approximations in the play. The coach signalled it to us at half-time. It’s a shame, as we wanted to travel to Marseille in full confidence. We will need to go and get the points we lost tonight in away games.” (staderennais.com)