TOPS/FLOPS : Heroic Lorient residents, the defense of Rennes too permeable… Find the tops/flops of the Breton derby.
TOPS
Lorient holds despite everything
The Lorient people will have fought until the end to succeed in winning the derby. The Merlus will have defended very low in the second half, repelling almost all attacks. Even striker Ibrahima Koné did not spare himself to come back to help his team. The Italian goalkeeper Vito Mannone will also have done good with several decisive saves, including one against Amine Gouiri in the last moments of the game (90th). Solidarity until the end.
The Rennes substitutes almost changed the game
Would the Lorient people have held out a little longer? The question may arise. As soon as the second act resumed, Bruno Genesio did not hesitate to bring in fresh blood. Santamaria, Tait and Sulemana return and try to wake up Rennes. The trend is reversed and Steve Mandanda’s teammates chain the chances in front of goal. The return, a little later, of Jérémy Doku allowed Rennes to be much more sharp and dangerous. Not enough tonight but promising for the future.
FLOPS
Defense at 5, good or bad system?
The defensive strategy had worked against PSG two weeks earlier. But this Friday evening against Lorient, the Rennes defense was put in difficulty, the rare times when the Lorient people were able to get into the last 20 meters. If the Rennais conceded “only” two goals, they could have taken a third on a defensive disagreement as well as a face-to-face missed by Ibrahima Koné in the back of the defense. “The system can be an explanation, it is not an excuse. With this system, 15 days ago, we beat Paris. In football, there are fundamentals to respect. When you don’t get any ball back, you lose all the duels, whatever the system it can’t workexplained Bruno Genesio at a press conference. Will he maintain this device?
Lorient residents must do better
The Hakes led 2-0. Without perfectly mastering possession of the ball, Régis Le Bris’ men were solid in defense and clinical in front of goal. But they exposed themselves too much in the second half and suffered repeated attacks from the swift Doku and Sulemana. Several times, the Lorient people scared themselves and took advantage of the lack of realism of the Rennes attackers (19 shots including 6 on target). Lorient will have to rectify the situation to ensure success sooner.
