Three days after their frustrating elimination by Leicester in the round of 16 of the Europa League Conference, the Rennais are now 2nd with 52 points, and certain to remain on the podium after the clash in the evening between Marseille and Nice, provisionally 3rd and 4th with 50 points.

A hat-trick from Serhou Guirassy, ​​a double from Martin Terrier and a goal from Hamari Traoré: when Rennes need to cheer up, beware of the bottom teams on their way.

Clermont and Bordeaux had taken 6-0, Saint-Etienne 5-0.

By dint of such prices, the Rennes dolphin now exceeds the Parisian leader in the ranking of the best attacks in the championship (63 goals against 59).

Even if the Rennais printed from the start of the match a rhythm and a pressing which did not leave any air to the Messins, the opener was accompanied by a little confusion.

Slaloming in the defense, Flavien Tait pushed Jemerson to the fault and obtained a penalty.

Marc-Aurèle Caillard pushed back the shot from Terrier and Benjamin Bourigeaud concluded, but the referee had the penalty withdrawn, the goalkeeper having come too far before the shot.

On his second attempt, Terrier, now 2nd top scorer in the championship with 16 goals behind Wissam Ben Yedder's 17, gave Caillard no chance (1-0, 18th).

Then the Rennais rolled out.

With a good action from Terrier who, from the midfield, reversed the game towards Bourigeaud and perfectly followed the action to conclude with a millimeter cross shot (2-0, 27th).

Then a rapid collective movement which allowed Bourigeaud to ideally serve Guirassy, ​​established in place of Gaëtan Laborde (3-0, 40th).

Guirassy was still receiving a center from Traoré at the start of the second period (4-0, 54th).

Five minutes later, it was Traoré who concluded after a withdrawal from Lovro Majer (5-0, 59th).

And on a corner played quickly with two, Guirassy scored the goal of his hat-trick (6-0, 64th) in suspension, on the eve of leaving for the first time with the Guinean selection.

While the Rennais clearly lowered the pace at the end of the match, Louis Mafouta, forgotten in the area, saved the honor for Metz (6-1, 87th).

The 3rd goal of the year 2022 for Frédéric Antonetti's men, who remain in 19th place, now 4 points behind the play-off.

© 2022 AFP