Rennes (AFP)

Rennes put an end to their scarcity of victories and temporarily joined Lille and Paris SG at the top of the Ligue 1 standings by winning 2-1 against Brest on Saturday at Roazhon Park.

After having chained five games without a win, L1 and Champions League combined, Julien Stéphan's men did not however completely reassure, before their two perilous trips next week on the grounds of Chelsea and then PSG.

It was the two central defenders of Stade Rennes, Damien Da Silva and Nayef Aguerd, who allowed Rennes to take the three points, each time with a header and from a set piece.

In a closed-door Roazhon Park, we did not hear the "Bro Gozh Ma Zadoù", the Breton anthem which should have resonated in a particular way for this derby.

The Rennes, although deprived of their star Eduardo Camavinga, unavailable a priori until the international break, quickly took control of the game, settling in the Brest camp and hastening to recover the lost balls.

But as it has often happened this season in the Rennes attack, and despite an important collective commitment, this mastery has long remained sterile, faced with an opposing block well in place and a lack of accuracy in the last moves.

- Rennais with reaction -

Faced with the worst defense in the championship - 18 goals conceded since the start of Ligue 1 - the Rennes chances have succeeded one another without success, especially for Martin Terrier: his recovery after an excellent combination between Hamari Traoré and Romain Del Castillo has found the cross (25th) and he took too long to strike when he found himself thrown alone against Gautier Larsonneur (54th).

Opposite, after a few abortive blocks, the Brestois were more enterprising from the half-hour of play, offering themselves several opportunities on a mess of the Rennes defense (32nd) or a header from Steve Mounié (42nd).

And it was they who opened the scoring when Franck Honorat, forgotten in the area, took over a cross from Julien Faussurier headed by Mounié (0-1, 57th).

But unlike the last matches, Rennes reacted by equalizing thanks to a header from captain Da Silva on a free kick from Del Castillo (1-1, 66th), then regained the advantage still on set piece, with a header d'Aguerd on a corner from Benjamin Bourigeaud (2-1, 70th).

The Brestois, who also needed to be reassured after two defeats in Nantes (3-1) and against Strasbourg (3-0), did not give up pushing, offering themselves several opportunities, in particular a strike from Jérémy Le Douaron saved in extremis by Alfred Gomis (77th), the new Rennes goalkeeper who had long kept his teammates afloat on Wednesday in Seville in the Champions League.

And Larsonneur also distinguished himself by repelling a strike from Yann Gboho (77th) and a header from Serhou Guirassy (87th).

© 2020 AFP