Then came the spark...

- Sold out : For the second time this season (the first was the against Lille on August 7th), the Stade Rennais was playing in front of a full stadium for the highly expected Breton derby. Indeed, 28,879 turned up for this game at the Route de Lorient.

- Family matters: Two members of the same family were facing each other at the Route de Lorient on Saturday. Indeed, Yann M’Vila is the cousin of Brest defensive midfielder Oscar Ewolo. A pastor outside football, the former Lorient player has even offered M’vila his first ever pair of football boots, as he explained to France Football on October 12th

- Pain Barrier : Injured since a few weeks, Nicolas Douchez is reportedly still suffering from an inguinal hernia, according to Foot+. A pain that prevents him from playing at his full potential. Fortunately, the keeper did not have much work to do during this derby. The first shot on target for Brest came with only twenty minutes left to play, from Nolan Roux.

- Antonetti (scene 1) : 36th minute. Omar Daf shoves Jirès Kembo Ekoko near the touchline, not far from Frédéric Antonetti’s bench. The manager yells several times: “I would give a red for that!”. On the replay, the tackle was spectacular more than dangerous, but the Brest defender was booked for his action, to Antonetti’s anger.

- Antonetti (scene 2): After the incident against Toulouse, when Frédéric Antonetti exchanged a few insults with a supporter, it seemed the situation would happen again when Antonetti turned towards the Crédit Mutuel de Bretagne grandstand… before asking for more support to his players. During the post-match press conference, the manager discussed the situation: “ If the fans were pushing behind us, they could give the players a bit more energy. But it’s not in the culture, they watch. So I turn towards them and I tell them +Encourage them+, and they shout +Yeah!+, but it’s not me who need encouragement, it’s the players! It’s funny, but that’s the way it is.”

- Rennes, 1st : Beyond the regional rivalry and a place towards the top of the Ligue 1 standing, Stade Rennes and the Stade Brestois were also fighting for another honour. Indeed, the teams were disputing the position of best defence. With eight goals conceded by each team before the game, and a final score of two goals to one, Rennes won the day, and is now leading the defensive table.

What they said...

Frédéric Antonetti (Rennes’ manager) : "The first half was one of our best since the beginning of the championship. We were able to press high and build from behind. Unfortunately, we lose Sylvain Marveaux again. It’s a choice to play with sprinters but you can see they’re more fragile than others. It’s worrying, and clearly the black spot of the night. Jirès Kembo Ekoko has scored three goals in 6 games (ed : understand 6th start), Abdoul Camara came in and did some good things, Tongo Doumbia played his second game. We had a brand new central defence partnership, but it was very solid against a spirited opposition. We have to hang on, we are at the beginning of a cycle. I only regret that I don’t have any room for sportive decisions” (football.fr).

Alex Dupont (Brest’s manager) : "We were in big difficulty. I’m not saying we did not play, but we really suffered from Rennes’ pressing. And when you subit, you lose the ball and you are punished. We really were too shy in the first half. We were not able to match their physical impact, and they won nearly all the one-on-ones. Now we’re not leaders anymore, we should be returning to a France Championship with a decent level” Stade Brestois’ official website.

Nolan Roux (Brest striker) : "Against a player like M’Vila, who recovers any ball passing by, Rennes put a huge impact in this game” (Ouest-France).

- Photo : stevko230 via Wikimédia Commons