Bad night in Toulouse

The « crucial week » of Frédéric Antonetti is starting in the worse of ways. Already knocked-out of the Coupe de la Ligue on Wednesday in Le Mans, Stade Rennes has conceded its third defeat of the season in the league in Toulouse, after having played with 11 men against 10 for over half an hour.

The game started slowly. Although neither of the two teams was creating real clear chances, the Toulousains – led by Tabanou – were slightly dominant, at least in the intentions. Rennes struggled to get in the game and had to wait until the 15th minute before approaching the opposition’s area for the first time, following a deep pass from Féret to Montaño. The latter tried his luck from 35 metres two minutes later, profiting of a bad clearance of Ahamada, but the Toulouse goalkeeper was back in time to stop the ball (17’).

Didot opens the score

In the absence of clear chances, it took a set-piece to unlock the game. At the 25th minute, following a foul by Kana-Biyik, Toulouse obtained a free-kick in a perfect position at the entrance of the penalty area, which Didot stepped up to take. The former “Rouge et Noir”, helped by a deflection from the Rennes wall, found the back of the net and opened the score against his former team (1-0, 26’). In the following minute, Tabanou drilled a cross in front of the goal but no Toulouse player could connect to his delivery (27’).

Rennes then seemed to take the edge at the end of the first half. Well served by Pitroipa, Hadji managed to get himself away from the defence in the penalty area but his shot was too soft (37’). The first real chance of the game for Stade Rennais arrived two minutes later, when Montaño, on a free-kick taken by Féret, placed a header directly in the gloves of Ahamada (39’). The same Féret then gained a corner after his free-kick was tipped away by the Toulouse goalkeeper (44’). The Bretons finished the first half well, but they had missed stamina and impact and were trailing on the score board. A logical advantage for Toulouse in terms of intentions
Rennes semble alors reprendre le dessus en fin de première mi-temps. Servi par Pitroipa, Hadji réussit à se démarquer dans la surface et à trouver le cadre mais sa frappe est trop écrasée (37e). La première véritable occasion du Stade Rennais intervient deux minutes plus tard, quand Montaño reprend de la tête au second poteau un coup franc de Féret, directement dans les gants de Ahamada (39e). Le même Féret obtient ensuite un corner, suite à un coup franc repoussé par le portier toulousain (44e). Les Bretons terminent bien leur première période, mais ont manqué d’allant et de percussion et sont menés au tableau d’affichage. Un avantage mérité sur le plan des intentions pour les joueurs d’Alain Casanova, mais pas forcément au niveau des occasions, tant les 45 premières minutes en ont été pauvres.

Rennes unable to score despite having one more man

Back from the dressing room, Rennes came back to the pitch with a completely different attitude, much more attack-minded. The Rennais were immediately winning a corner and applied heavy pressure in the Toulouse side, but they would soon profit of a game fact which would change the deal when, guilty of a dangerous tackle on Théophile-Catherine, Devaux was expelled by the referee (55’). Although Toulouse could still create chances with ten men, with a shot by Firmin just wide (57’) or a volley by Capoue from a free-kick (72’). Congré’s team-mates were going backwards. Using its numerical advantage, Rennes was opening more and more spaces and the danger was coming closer to the Toulouse goal. Through Féret (60’) and Hadji (62’), who didn’t hit the target, then by Théophile-Catherine, not luckier when he headed the ball on a corner-kick (74’).

Stade Rennes had enormous difficulties to put Ahamada in trouble however. The Toulouse goalkeeper was present on a volley by Pitroipa (76’), and the Breton pressure on his goal was growing stronger in the last minutes. But the “Rouge et Noirs”’ attacking efforts remained vain. Clumsy, the Rennais missed precision in the final move, as illustrated by the final attempt by Boukari, a shot from range that didn’t hit the target (90’+2). There was certainly a possibility to do better, and this is probably the way Antonetti’s men will feel after this game feeling like a missed occasion. The Rennais will not be allowed to miss the next one on Thursday night, in the Europa League, against Celtic Glasgow.

Match Facts

TOULOUSE FC 1 - 0 STADE RENNAIS FC (half-time : 1-0)

Ligue 1, Game Week 12
Sunday, October 30th 2011, 17:00 CET

Stadium
Attendance : about 20 000 spectators

Referee : Jean-Charles Cailleux

Goal : Didot (26’) for Toulouse.

Yellow Cards : Mandjeck (65’) in Rennes. Abdennour (73’), Congré (90+2’) in Toulouse.

Red Card : Devaux (55’) in Toulouse.

- Stade Rennais FC : Costil - Jebbour, Kana-Biyik (Mandjeck, 37’), Mangane (cap), Théophile-Catherine - M’Vila, Doumbia (Tettey, 84’), Féret - Montaño, Hadji (Boukari, 84’), Pitroipa.

Manager : Frédéric Antonetti.

- Toulouse FC : Ahamada - Akpa-Akpro, Capoue, Abdennour, Congré (cap) - Devaux - Sissoko, Firmin (Braaten, 65’), Didot (Sirieix, 84’), Tabanou (Machado, 85’) - Bulut.

Manager : Alain Casanova.