Game, set and match !

With a draw and a defeat, Stade Rennais had come out of its last too game with a lot of frustration. Frustrated of not converting the many goal opportunities it created, frustrated for not being rewarded for its good display.
During forty five minutes, it seemed that the Stade Bonal would be the place for another one of this disillusions, another theatre for these games Stade Rennes knows only too well, were tough luck, clumsiness and frustration are blending together.

Attacking without inhibition, Rennes was eager to make up for its recent hiccups. From the first minutes, the Breton midfield was taking the edge over its counterpart from the Doubs. Recovering a ball at midfield, Féret launched Pitroipa with a deep ball. The Burkinabé gave the favour back to the man from Saint-Brieuc with a cross but Féret – too far from the ball – could only tackle it wide. Four minutes later, on a coup franc by the same Féret, Boye was inches away from scoring the opener, but his shot was pushed away by Richert.
Applying permanent domination, Rennes finally scored. Launched behind the defence, Hadji was brought down by Peybernes in the penalty area. The referee awarded a stone-wall penalty that Montaño transformed, twice since the referee made him take it again (22’, 0-1).

Rennes in control of the game? Certainly, but the statistics wouldn’t reflect it. Immediately after, a ball lost by M’Vila was used by Boudebouz who fed a superb ball for Édouard Butin. The young striker outpaced Boye and hit spontaneously. His powerful shot was unstoppable for Costil, on Sochaux’ first chance of the game (24’, 1-1).
Not discouraged, Rennes continued going forward. On a delivery by Féret, Montaño could have scored a brace two minutes later, but the Colombian striker was denied by Richert’s very good intervention. A few minutes later, Pitroipa tried his luck with a curled shot that went above the bar. Finally, Rennes managed to take back the advantage on a free-kick. Féret, taking the set piece on the left wing, delivered a perfect ball for Kana-Biyik who, unmarked scored with a powerful header (35’, 1-2).

Once again, it seemed that Rennes was back on the rails, but Sochaux would equalise once again. Countering on the right wing, Butin eliminated his defender to send a perfect cross for Maïga, who took the advantage on Kana-Biyik to beat Costil, a bit late on this situation (40’, 2-2). Sochaux had scored its second goal on its second chance and its second shot on target…
Unsurprisingly, the Rennais were wincing at half time. Unrewarded for their total domination on the game, the “Rouge et Noir” had paid the full price of their few mistakes against a Sochaux team in a uninspired day. As often these days.

Not giving up, the Rennais were back on the attack in the second half. After a first skirmish by Pitroipa, it was a run on the wing by Théophile-Catherine, well launched by M’Vila, which made the difference. The cross by the full back was poorly controlled by Perquis. The ball was recovered by Hadji who, with his back to the goal, relayed perfectly to Féret whose shot beat Richert easily (51’, 2-3).
Once again, Rennes came back in control of the game, but the Bretons seemed to repeat their mistakes and start going backwards. As a result, Maïga faced Costil in the penalty area, but this time the goalkeeper took the advantage and managed a decisive save. A stop, which may have been the turning point of the game.

After keeping in control of the Sochaux reaction, the Rennaix managed the break in the last half hour. Féret was shoved at the entrance of the penalty are by Peybernes, who caused his second penalty of the game. The spot-kick was converted easily by Hadji (69’, 2-4).
Rennes had made the difference, and a few minutes later, Montaño gave Sauget the run-around before beating Richert with an angled shot (71’, 2-5). Stade Rennes was quietly in control of the late stages of the game, and although Sochaux tried to reduce the difference, in vain, it was the Bretons who put the last nail in the coffin. Minutes after coming off the bench, Jirès Kembo added another goal in the injury time. Beating the offside trap on a pass by M’Vila, the French-Congolese striker placed a nice lob to beat Richert who had come out of his goal (90’+5, 2-6).

A tennistic score-line highly deserved for a Rennes team which gave itself a fright in the first half, but finally managed to solve its finishing issues in the second half. This heavy victory also makes up for the humiliation received during the previous Sochaux-Rennes, last January (5-1).

Match Facts

FC SOCHAUX-MONTBÉLIARD 2 - 6 STADE RENNAIS FC (half-time : 2-2)

Ligue 1, Game Week 7
Wednesday, September 21st 2011, 19:00

Stade Auguste-Bonal
Attendance : 10 417 spectators

Referee: Benoît Bastien

Goals: Montaño (22’ pen. and 71’), Kana-Biyik (35’), Féret (51’), Hadji (69’ pen.) and Kembo (90’+5) for Rennes ; Butin (24’) and Maïga (41’) for Sochaux.

Yellow Cards: Tettey (31’) and Danzé (37’) for Rennes ; Peybernes (68’) for Sochaux.

- Stade Rennais FC : Costil - Danzé (cap), Kana-Biyik, Boye, Théophile-Catherine - M’Vila, Tettey, Féret - Montaño (Brahimi, 73’), Hadji (Pajot, 86’), Pitroipa (Kembo, 62’).

Manager: Frédéric Antonetti.

- FC Sochaux-Montbéliard : Richert (cap) - Corchia, Perquis, Peybernes, Sauget - Anin, Martin, Boudebouz (Privat, 78’), Nogueira (Camara, 63’) - Butin (Bakambu, 67’), Maïga.

Manager: Mecha Bazdarevic.