Monaco wins in Rennes and temporarily returns to three points behind PSG

2023-12-09 20:09:06

By the editorial staff

Published 13 minutes ago, Updated now

The joy of the Monegasques. SEBASTIEN SALOM-GOMIS / AFP

The Monegasques beat Stade Rennais this Saturday (2-1) on the 15th day of the championship.

Monaco temporarily moved up to second place in Ligue 1 by winning at Rennes (2-1), which was in a slump, on Saturday, during the 15th day.

With their 30 points, the Monegasques overtake Nice (29 pts), which hosts Reims on Sunday. The Bretons see their 12th place with 15 points threatened by Strasbourg, Toulouse and Lorient who all play on Sunday.

But beyond their situation in the rankings, it is the deterioration of the red and black game which is worrying. Faced with a Monaco which had nothing very impressive, except more confidence and less waste, Rennes struggled to exist for too long.

Bourigeaud, late goal

With Martin Terrier on the bench at kick-off, their only player, at the moment, capable of holding the ball high and making differences, they have long been nothing more than a luxury “sparring partner”. for the Monegasques. It was only when they found themselves 10 against 11, after the expulsion of their full-back Vanderson, a quarter of an hour from the end, that the Rocher players experienced their first thrills in defense.

First there was Philipp Köhn’s reflex save on a header from Arthur Theate, after a corner taken by Benjamin Bourigeaud (79th). The same Bourigeaud then reduced the score on a penalty at the very end of regulation time (1-2, 89th) before the young Mohamadou Nagida, 18, forced Köhn into another decisive save in the second minute of added time. But it was too little and too late against AS Monaco who had already taken cover.

Before taking a second yellow card for an anti-playing fault along the touchline and 70 meters from his goals, Vanderson had stood out more positively by giving his team the advantage thanks to yet another gift from Rennes’ defense this season. On a tumble from Ismail Jakobs, the center of the left piston was deflected by Enzo Le Fée then Adrien Truffert into the feet of Folarin Balogun who slipped the ball towards the Brazilian international who scored from close range (0-1, 51st ).

And outnumbered, while Rennes played their all, Youssouf Fofana took advantage of a certain defensive passivity of the opponent to approach sixteen meters and score at ground level as if on parade (0-2, 84th).

After the 2-0 victory at Louis II against Montpellier which followed the slap suffered at the Parc des Princes (5-2), Monaco therefore achieved a second precious success in the race for the Champions League before facing the poorly ranked Lyon and Toulouse before the break. On the Rennes side, it was, once again, a soup of grimaces at the final whistle and even the prospect of playing, on Thursday, for first place in their group in the Europa League, against Villarreal, no longer seems to excite much. world.