PLAYER RATINGS | Rennes 2 – 2 Le Havre: Bretons let two-goal lead slip
After the 5-1 dismantling of FC Metz on Ligue 1’s opening-day, Rennes hosted the second promoted side in Le Havre this Sunday afternoon and hoped to go top of the league. Marquee signings Nemanja Matić, Enzo Le Fée and Ludovic Blas all started for Bruno Genesio’s side. Testament to the confidence oozing from the hosts, they only needed one goalscoring opportunity to go 1-0 up ten minutes in. Blas and Lorenz Assignon cleverly worked together to dispossess Christopher Opéri. The former Nantes forward’s first shot was blocked by Arouna Sangante, the second one found the back of the net.
Le Havre could have felt hard done by considering that an offside Amine Gouiri, who picked up Doku’s #10 shirt, seemed to have obstructed Arthur Desmas. Still, the Normans had all kinds of trouble handling their opponents. The returning Adrien Truffert missed a sitter after another light-speed counter-attack from the home side. Desmas then poorly parried an inswinging free-kick from Benjamin Bourigeaud and centre-back Christopher Wooh was on cue to make it two.
Rennes were in full flow when, like against Les Grenats, they were caught napping against the run of play. Opéri was left with too much time and space on the left to cross for Nabil Alioui, who outpaced Truffert to direct a really good header past Mandanda. Despite being mostly dominated, Luka Elsner’s side finished the first half strongly and returned to the dressing room with only a one-goal deficit.
The second half was more evenly disputed between the two sides. Le Havre made matters harder for themselves. Samuel Grandsir was given his marching orders by Eric Wattelier on the hour mark after picking up a second yellow card. The hosts were then guilty of blatant complacency. Loïc Négo
Read on getfootballnewsfrance.com
