Nantes (AFP)

Raymond Domenech's Nantes, who led his first match since the fiasco of the Blues in South Africa in 2010, hung the Rennes favorites 0-0 on Wednesday during a Breton derby in a sad and cold Beaujoire stadium.

It's a 9th game without a win for the Nantes, 17th in Ligue 1 even if they nibble a point.

But it is also a big disappointment for the Rennes, who remained on four victories in a row.

They who are still struggling to get closer to the podium will have to raise their level of play if they want to compete on Saturday against Lyon.

Arrived during the truce, Domenech had warned that he did not intend to revolutionize anything and in the immediate future, he was content to revive the Malian striker Kalifa Coulibaly, very little used this season, and the Pallois-Girotto hinge instituted by Christian Gourcuff and broken during the interim of Patrick Collot.

The hinge held firm and Coulibaly, although he did not stand out much during the match, nearly cleared the score with a header at the very end of the game.

Motionless at the limit of his square, the former coach of the Blues spoke little during the match, limiting himself to a few cries of vexation in the face of a few failed gestures.

There was also a lot of technical waste on both sides, hence a very dull first period.

-Balanced game-

After ten short minutes when the ball stayed in Rennes' feet, the game leveled off, moving from one camp to the other without really letting serious chances appear.

The only small thrill of the first period came from a strike from Imran Louza, after a poor recovery from Damien Da Silva and a one-two with Randal Kolo Muani, deflected by goalkeeper Romain Salin.

The Rennais accelerated on the return from the locker room, offering in particular two good opportunities to Benjamin Bourigeaud.

But he missed his first strike against goal (49th) and the second, shot, from the entrance to the area, passed just above the frame (53rd).

But the Canaries also knew how to be dangerous, with a center back from Kolo Muani that Bourigeaud managed to tear from the feet of Louza (64th), then a floating shot from Sébastien Corchia (67th) and a cross from Kolo Muani for Ludovic Blas (76th) who forced Salin to show his relaxation.

The Rennes goalkeeper, who continued to scold and encourage his teammates throughout the match, did not budge from Coulibaly (81st).

But the ball went right over the frame.

With their star Eduardo Camavinga entering only in the 74th minute, the Rennais pushed in the last minutes to try to relive the madness of their victory (3-2) last year at Roazhon Park.

But in a sadly empty stadium, the score went blank.

© 2021 AFP