PLAYER RATINGS | Rennes 4-5 Brest: Pirates edge thrilling Brittany Derby win to secure European qualification
After suffering back-to-back losses against Lyon and Monaco, Champions League hopefuls Brest take on Brittany rivals Rennes at the Roazhon Park to leapfrog third-placed Lille. Meanwhile, the hosts had the opportunity to reduce their deficit to sixth-placed Lens to a single point. Julien Stéphan’s side started brilliantly in a raucous atmosphere. In the fourth minute, Azor Matusiwa fed Arnaud Kalimuendo inches from offside for the France U21 international to find Marco Bizot’s bottom corner.
Rennes’ No. 9 was on target a mere minutes later after Bizot failed to catch Désiré Doué’s inviting cross, providing him the easiest of tap-ins. Rennes were 2-0 up before we even reached the game’s tenth minute and seemingly out of sight. But Brest were in no mood to down tools. Only two minutes after Kalimuendo’s second strike, former Huddersfield striker Steve Mounié halved his side’s deficit after Steve Mandanda initially parried his towering header, thus concluding a three-goal blitz in seven minutes!
Les Ty-Zeffs were struggling to find any cracks in Rennes’ defense with Martin Satriano and Pierre Lees-Melou found lacking. Not for the first time this season, Brest were also conceding cheap fouls aplenty. Rennes entered half-time with the lead and the upper hand. However, the hosts surrendered their lead minutes into the second half, with all but themselves to blame, Warmed Omari finding his own net in trying to clear Mahdi Camara’s cross from the left. Problems deepened for the hosts when an unmarked Satriano rifled a bullet header in Mandanda’s top corner. The visitors were 2-0 down and were now in the lead!
Stéphan rang in the changes with Adrien Truffert and Amine Gouiri coming to the fore. However, Brest were ruthless in front
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