« A lousy goal»

- Staying in before the game :
Just as he did before Rennes - Brest, Frédéric Antonetti decided not to let his team out of the dressing-room for the traditional jog on the pitch before the match. A tactic which proved successful during the derby (read previously) and resulted in another win yesterday.

- M’Vila, the glorious fifty :
Against Monaco, Yann M’Vila played his fiftieth Ligue 1 game. An impressive total, for a player who started his professional career only sixteen months ago. Since he was launched by Frédéric Antonetti, a day of August 2009 in Nice, the midfielder has only played three League games, always because of suspensions. Except his game in Nice, he only played one match as a substitute, last season in Auxerre (replacing Jérôme Leroy at half-time).

- Serenity :
After this success, it is good to note that no Rennes player is under the threat of a suspension, should they be booked during the next match. The last player who remained under the threat, Romain Danzé, saw one of his warnings cleared since ten matches were played after the booking was given. At this moment, only a sending-off could cause the suspension of a Rennes player.

- Montaño - Kembo, swapping roles :
In Marseille, Victor Hugo Montaño had been awarded a penalty, which Jirès Kembo failed to convert. Three days later, the roles were inverted: Rennes was awarded a spot-kick on a cross by Kembo, and this time, Montaño scored the penalty.
After the penalty converted by Marveaux against Toulouse, there has now been three different penalty-takers since the beginning of this season. In July, during a pre-season game against Legia Warsaw, Jérôme Leroy had also (successfully) taken a spot-kick .

- Additional rest as a reward :
Happy after his players’ success, Frédéric Antonetti gave them a little reward in the dressing-room. At the end of a busy week, they are enjoying a prolonged week-end after their manager postponed the next training session to Tuesday, 15:00. The after-match training session planned for Sunday was cancelled.

Fabien Lemoine will wait :
Beside the Ligue 1 game, Fabien Lemoine was expected to play a friendly game with the Reserve against Le Mans, his first match since his injury in August. His return was finally delayed. According to Ouest-France, the player and the medical staff have decided “not to take any risks” and delayed this return. Meanwhile, Lemoine should return to full training with the professional squad this Tuesday.

What they said...

- Frédéric Antonetti : «We had a difficult first half, we were lacking freshness and energy. Marseille left a mark. […] It’s true we weren’t in a good day during the first half. Monaco was defending well and causing us trouble. In the second half, we took control of the game, we upped our level and I believe the victory is logical during this second half » (Ouest-France).

- Sébastien Puygrenier, talking to Foot+ : « A lot of disappointment, as we put in a lot of efforts. We try to be solid and we concede a lousy goal. When everything gets wrong, everything gets wrong. Well, Ok, there is a handball and there is a penalty, but this is a shit goal!” (Football365.fr).

- Jirès Kembo : « We struggled to get in the game, because it was the third in a week. We needed to recover our legs. It went better along with the game. The coach asked us to be patient, not to take any risks” (Stade Rennais’ official website).

- Chris Malonga : “Tonight, everyone in the squad is frustrated. When we lose a game that seems promised to us, in those conditions, it’s true it’s hard to swallow. We managed to stay in control of the game defensively. I think we failed in attack, we had two or three clear chances and we did not score them” (planete-asm.fr).

- Photo : Dmitry Kiselev via Wikimédia Commons