Rennes (AFP)
Four days after his elimination in the Europa League, Rennes chained Sunday against Amiens (3-1), a second consecutive success in L1 which brings him closer to the podium, after the 13th day.
We are never as good as at home: after having left without glory the C3 Thursday, beaten by the Romanians of Cluj (1-0), the Bretons show a much better face on the national scene, where they can hope to play the leading roles.
They reacted to a strong formation Picard who had not lost since September 25, taking the best in a second period that showed their strength of character.
"We deserved to win logically!" Welcomed the coach Julien Stephan.
His players are now installed in the first part of the ranking, but with a late match, playing in Nîmes on January 15, they can legitimately aim higher.
"It's so tight, so dense that we must keep a lot of humility," warned the young technician, before a trip to the poorly-classified Dijon after the international break.
Unable to win for a month and a half, between early September and late October, the Stade Rennais raised the head, and the scenario of his last victory bears the mark of this team that did not let go during the storm.
Rennes resisted the opening of the score by Serhou Guirassy (35th) then a complicated second-half start that saw Damien Da Silva save on his line a header from Gaël Kakuta (50th), before making the difference in the last Half an hour, worn by an excellent Eduardo Camavinga, who was celebrating his 17 years.
Adrien Hunou (39th), Mbaye Niang (62) and Raphinha (79th sp) ended up folding the Picards, who feed "regrets" according to their coach Luka Elsner.
"The complete picture of the match will still leave me with a bitter taste, because in some games we have achieved some great things, it is a very sad match," he said.
For Raphinha, this is a memorable match: the most expensive rookie in the history of the Breton club (EUR 21 million) scored his first goal since his arrival this summer from Sporting Portugal. Like his team, he too dreams of playing the leading roles of the Championship.
© 2019 AFP