Rennes at ease on the road
Ligue 1, Caen 0 - 2 Stade Rennais. By scoring early through a genial inspiration by Kembo, Rennes had probably made half of the way at the Stade Michel d'Ornano. The Bretons would double their lead by Montaño, and managed to win in Caen for the first time in their history in Ligue 1.
Stade Rennais started 2012 nicely but will be without its Africans, off at the AfCON, while Caen is in great difficulty in the league. This is the way the game could be presented before kick-off. And the two teams struggled to get the game going. The first chance was for Caen – a shot by Bulot far above Costil’s goals - (10’), but the early minutes were rather quiet. Caen was slightly dominating the early stages but couldn’t show anything for it. Hamouma tried his luck from 30 metres, but his shot wasn’t on target (18’).
Kembo’s genial inspiration
Rennes would then unlock the game thanks to a genial inspiration from Kembo. After a failed first attempt (20’), Boukari recovered the ball on the left flank and passed the ball back to Montaño who transmitted to Kembo. The Rennes forward realised a double contact to make his way past Seube before surprising Thébaux with an outside foot shot from outside the penalty area (1-0, 22’). A goal which came as deliverance to Rennes suffering until them, even though Caen wasn’t dangerous: Costil would wait until the 41st minute to complete his first save. At half-time, Rennes wasn’t really on top of the game, but led from its unique chance.
The second half would be on a par with the first: Rennes didn’t force and made the most of Caen’s defensive weaknesses. After a bad clearance by Mboné, M’Vila launched the counter quickly and was at the conclusion of the move he started with a shot wide (47’). Féret wouldn’t do any better on a volley (51’). It would take until the 65th minute for Stade Rennes to finally double its lead: on a shot by Féret and parried by Thébaux, Montaño reacted quickly and blasted the ball in the back of the net (2-0, 65’) before erupting with joy. Indeed, the Colombian had not scored any goal since September 29th.
Costil shines
The end of the match gave Costil an opportunity to shine against his first club. The Rennes goalkeeper reacted well on a Caen header, before tipping the ball over his bar superbly on the following corner (81’). On a shot by Hamouma skimming the right post, Costil was present once again (83’).
There would be no more goal scored. Without working too hard, a clinical Stade Rennais beat a Caen team showing weak and out of confidence. The Bretons had few chances but did what they had to do to win. Only negative news of the night: Boukari limped out of the pitch injured in the first half. The unavailability of the “Rouge et Noir” forward, added to those of Pitroipa and Hadji, playing the AfCON, could be a handicap for Stade Rennais in the next games.
Match Sheet
SM CAEN 0 - 2 STADE RENNAIS FC (half-time : 0-1)
Ligue 1, Game Week 20
Saturday, January 14th 2012, 21:00 CET
Stade Michel d’Ornano
Attendance : about 14 000 spectators
Referee : Tony Chapron
Goals : Kembo (22’), Montaño (65’) for Rennes.
Yellow Cards : n/a.
- Stade Rennais FC : Costil - Danzé, Apam, Kana-Biyik, Théophile-Catherine - M’Vila, Pajot (Doumbia, 58’), Féret - Kembo (Tettey, 86’), Boukari (Brahimi, 35’), Montaño.
Manager: Frédéric Antonetti.
- SM Caen : Thébaux - Van Dam, Wague, Heurtaux, Sorbon - Seube, Mboné (Nivet, 73’) - Hamouma, Fajr, Bulot (Traoré, 73’) - Nabab (Nangis, 64’).
Manager : Franck Dumas.