Rennes (AFP)
Eduardo Camavinga celebrated his first call-up for the French team by once again being decisive for Rennes' victory on Saturday against Montpellier (2-1), after a match ended 10 against 10, as last week in Lille.
A one-two with Faitout Maouassa, an acceleration, a body feint and an unstoppable cross shot: in a classy occasion against Montpellier, Camavinga showed why Didier Deschamps had registered him for the first time on his list of Blues. Bodes well for the Rennais who can become the first Blue under 18, if he comes into play against Sweden or Croatia.
For the reunion with their public - certainly sparse and deprived of its traditional pancakes and sausages because of sanitary measures -, the Rennais were dominant but struggled to realize their opportunities, before the individual feat of their nugget.
At the start of the match, the Montpellier players, who returned to the competition on Saturday after abandoning it with a stinging 5-0 defeat in March on the same lawn, seemed to want to wash away the affront, by showing themselves to be the most enterprising .
But after a preparation disrupted by cases of coronavirus and a first match against Lyon postponed because of the Champions League, they were diminished by injuries and the absence of their striker Andy Delort, affected by the Covid-19.
The height of fate is Damien Le Tallec, trained in Rennes, who opened the scoring by pushing back in his own net a center of Raphinha, after a festival of the elusive Brazilian winger (1-0, 21st).
- Calf and Terrier see red -
The Rennes chances then started to rain, with a strike on the post of Adrien Hunou, launched by the impeccable Steven Nzonzi (32nd), a header just next to the frame of captain Damien Da Silva (34th) and a new shot Hunou deflected on his crossbar by Jonas Omnin, the new Swiss goalkeeper for Montpellier.
The Rennais then increased their domination, helped by the exclusion of Florian Mollet at the end of the first period for an involuntary crampon strike on the head of Maouassa, strongly recalling the gesture which had earned a red card and three suspension matches for Sacha Boey last week against Lille.
But this domination remained sterile, like a phase of attack four against three which failed on a failed strike from Serhou Guirassy, who arrived Thursday from Amiens and entered a little after the hour mark (69th ).
Illustration of the growing feverishness within the Red and Black, Martin Terrier was in turn excluded twenty minutes from the end of the match for a tackle from behind. In the process, a head of Le Tallec passed right next to the Rennes frame ...
On the other hand, not an ounce of excitement for the young Camavinga when he played defenders from Montpellier in the area to go and slide the ball along the opposite post (2-0, 76th).
And even if Gaëtan Laborde reduced the score in stoppage time with a powerful header, despite his broken nose at the start of the week in training (2-1, 92nd + 2), it is above all a standing ovation Roazhon Park, for his 17-year-old darling, which ended this successful evening for the Bretons.
© 2020 AFP