Rennes (AFP)
Under the eyes of its fresh recruit Steven Nzonzi, Rennes comforted in pain its 3rd place on the podium of Ligue 1 by snatching the victory 3-2 Friday night against Nantes thanks to two goals scored in additional time.
The Canaries, who have not beaten Rennes at Roazhon Park for six years and receive PSG Tuesday at La Beaujoire, lost the opportunity to revive themselves after a tough, disputed match, marked by a clear commitment on the part and other and a lot of mistakes.
It was close, until the final suspense of a goal validated by the video assistance after being refused by the referees on the ground, but Rennes, who moves Tuesday to Lille, is now 2 points 2nd Marseille and 7 points ahead of 4th Montpellier, who still have to play this weekend.
In the first period, Maouassa and Raphinha's accelerations regularly destabilized the Nantes defense, without offering Rennes any real opportunities, except for a shot from Hunou pushed back by the post while goalkeeper Lafont was beaten (36th , 0-0).
On the Nantes side, the danger came most often from Blas, very visible and the author of several strikes (10th, 31st), but too isolated.
Despite the rhythm chopped by faults and involuntary shocks, it was the Nantes who mastered their subject best, until being rewarded at the very start of the second period with an unfortunate goal for the Rennes: on a corner, Camavinga dismissed the ball which bounced off captain Da Silva and ended up in the back of the net (0-1, 47th).
The opening of the score caused an acceleration of the rhythm, with actions on both sides, but also a heating of the spirits, in particular during a scuffle between Lafont and Raphinha, who were both warned while the Nantes captain Touré encouraged Nantes supporters to redouble their ardor.
But it was the Rennais who then proved to be the most enterprising, until being rewarded with a penalty obtained and drawn by Niang. As in the first leg in Nantes in September (won 1-0 by the Canaries), Niang saw his shot repelled by Lafont. But this time, Raphinha had followed and gave the keeper no chance (1-1, 71st).
In an unleashed stadium, the next thrill came from an acceleration of Simon who found Mendy at the conclusion (75th) then a Nantes counter-attack led again by Simon and this time concluded by the untenable Nigerian, who manages to deceive the goalkeeper (1-2, 80th).
In additional time, extended because the match had been interrupted by smoke bombs lit by Nantes supporters, Bourigeaud equalized on a back pass (2-2, 95 + 5th) but the Rennes assaults did not stop for as much , and Raphinha snatched the three points of the victory by concluding again a strike from Niang that Lafont had rejected.
First refused for offside, the goal was finally awarded after checking the VAR, causing an explosion of joy on the field and in the stadium.
In these stands, the world champion Steven Nzonzi, who arrived on Friday for a loan of six months - with an option of one more year - to try to regain his place in Blue before the Euro, also had to vibrate . Under a very Breton drizzle and in front of the huge black and white flag displayed on the lawn for the derby, he showed enthusiastic supporters the new flocked jersey of number 25 which he should wear next week.
© 2020 AFP