A victory, and a first eleven shaping up
Friendly, Stade Rennais 2 - 1 Lorient. Rennes leave Ploërmel with a win in their final pre-season friendly. Dominating heavily, Rennes had many chances but had difficulties in the finishing. A few days before the Europa League starts, a team is shaping up.
After two draws (Vannes, Angers) and a defeat (Sochaux), Stade Rennes was yet to experience success in the 2011-2012 pre-season friendlies. Thy have now managed it. And although the result isn’t too important, the team lined up by Frédéric Antonetti deserves all attention. The eleven fielded by the Corsican manager in the second half could well be very close to the starting eleven, next Thursday in the Europa League.
A different squad in each half against Lorient, but a constant fact: Rennes are struggling to convert their chances. In Ploërmel, the “Rouge et Noir” applied total domination over their Lorient counterparts, but they lacked the finishing touch. When Camara unlocked the score, half an hour in the game (30’), he had already had three chances. And Boye had already seen his header saved by Jouffre (24’). The equaliser scored by Lorient through Coutadeur just a few minutes later (35’) failed to reflect the game: in the second half, the new Rennes eleven rushed back in attack. Rennes were even hitting Chaigneau’s crossbar on a strike by Féret (53’).
It would finally take until the very end of the game for Rennes’ domination to be converted on the scoreboard. The solution came from Pitroipa, who beat Chaigneau with a shot-across in the goal’s corner (87’). Rennes won, earning a moral boost before the trip to Georgia signalling the beginning of competitive football this season. This will be this Thursday evening (19:00 CET), in the Europa League against Metallurgist Rustavi.
Game Facts
STADE RENNAIS FC 2 - 1 FC LORIENT (half-time : 1-1)
Friendly Game
Saturday, 23rd July 2011, 18:30
Stade municipal de Ploërmel (56)
Referee : Bartolomeu Varela
Goals : Camara (30’) and Pitroipa (87’) for Rennes ; Coutadeur (35’) for Lorient.
- Stade Rennais FC (1st half) : Costil - Foulquier, Kana-Biyik, Boye, Jebbour - Doumbia, Tettey, Lemoine (cap.) - Dalmat, Boukari, Camara.
- Stade Rennais FC (2nd half) : Costil - Danzé, Mangane (cap.), Boye, Théophile-Catherine - Mandjeck, M’Vila, Féret - Brahimi, Montaño, Pitroipa.
Manager : Frédéric Antonetti.
- FC Lorient (1st half) : Chaigneau - Pedrinho, Koné, Bourillon, Mareque - Jouffre, Mvuemba, Romao, Coutadeur - Monnet-Paquet, Quercia.
- FC Lorient (2nd half) : Chaigneau - Le Lan, Koné, Bourillon, Baca - Coutadeur, Romao, Mvuemba (Monnet-Paquet, 77e), Barthelmé - Robert, Kitambala.
Manager : Christian Gourcuff.