Rennes Review - Season Five

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Rennes 2
M_Hamsik (32), A_Kalimuendo (60)
PSV Eindhoven 4
J_Duffus (3,45 pen), R_Kovac (7), I_Saibari (92)

Drew Hill's Rennes fell to defeat on the opening day of the season with an entertaining 4-2 loss against Dutch side PSV Eindhoven.
It is a familiar early season tale for the French side under Hill, who have now failed for three successive seasons to pick up maximum points on the opening day.
There were however, reasons to be positive this time around after a spirited performance which on another day could, and probably should, have resulted in a draw or even a victory.
Youth graduate midfielder Marek Hamsik notched his first goal for the club on his competitive debut but it was defensive frailties which cost the French side in their first match of the season.


Marek Hamsik celebrates scoring his first Rennes goal on his competitive debut

It had been the younger players who had been expected to make some mistakes this season as they adapt to football at the top level, but instead it was veteran goalkeeper and club captain Geoffrey Lembet who had a game to forget for the hosts.
PSV managed nine shots on target, and four of those ended up in the back of Lembet's net. Within the first ten minutes he had already picked the ball out of his net twice and his side had a mountain to climb.
Hamsik's goal before half time gave Rennes hope of a comeback but that seemed unlikely after the visitors scored a penalty seconds before the half time break to make the score 3-1.


PSV's Yan Couto disrupted the game with constant positional changes

By now the match had descended into some kind of farce with Eindhoven's Yan Couto constantly switching from defence to midfield and gesturing to the sidelines unsure of where he was supposed to play.
It disrupted the flow of the game but Rennes still managed to pull a goal back on the hour mark through Arnaud Kalimuendo.
The home side pushed for an equaliser but found Eindhoven keeper Ivan Provedel in good form and then were hit with a sucker punch when Eindhoven's Ismael Saibari scored in injury time to seal a 4-2 win for the Dutchies.

Manager Drew Hill remained positive despite watching his side fall to defeat.
He said: "Despite the result, quite happy with the performance. Possession was completely even and when we had the ball we created more clear cut chances.
"It looks like PSV had more action on the match report but that is mainly because one of their players doesn't know if he is a defender or a midiflelder or what day of the week it even was.
"We produced some very good football, their keeper has played one of the games of his life and our keeper has had a stinker and that is the only reason we ended up on the wrong end of the scoreline.
"That's the way things often go because all goalkeepers are horribly unpredictable and some days we will benefit from the opposite.
"Lots of positives, good gains for some of the players and entertainment for the fans. On to the next one!"

508

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Joris Chotard has returned to the Rennes starting lineup for their EFL cup tie against Dynamo Zagreb after being left on the bench for the season opener at home to PSV Eindhoven.
The 23-year-old midfielder who featured prominently last season was forced to watch most of the opening day 4-2 defeat from the bench, coming on only for the last 20 minutes.
Chotard replaces Shaun Wright-Phillips for the first round cup tie in Croatia.


Rennes players explore the Croatian capital ahead of their match against Dynamo tonight.

Apart from the reintroduction of Chotard the Rennes lineup is expected to remain unchanged, which means once again no place in the lineup for experienced midfielder Nemanja Matic.

Manager Drew Hill expects his side to progress to the next round against their lower league opponents.
"This is a game we just have to win." He said.
"A cup run could be really important for us this season, both financially and in terms of morale.
"We know that things could be tough in the league but if we could go on some kind of cup run, draw some big sides and pick up some surprise results it could be huge for us.
"That doesn't happen unless we do our job tonight against a side from EFL3.

"We are not complacent, we are not expecting to just turn up and win but we will be very disappointed if we go out tonight".

237

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Dynamo Zagreb 1
J_Drmic (55)
Rennes 3
A_Gouiri (48), J_Chotard (85), A_Kalimuendo (93)

Rennes just about did enough to progress to round 2 of the EFL cup after two late goals ended the challenge of Dynamo Zagreb.
The French side found things tough in Croatia against a limited but spirited challenge from their EFL3 hosts.
Joris Chotard's 85th minute screamer proved to be decisive and the win was wrapped up deep into injury time by Arnaud Kalimuendo.


All smiles for Joris Chotard after his late winner in Croatia.

Dynamo opted for a long ball approach which frustrated Drew Hill's side up to half time where the sides went in level at 0-0.
Despite taking the lead shortly after the break through Amine Gouiri's first goal of the season they were pegged back to 1-1 by the Croatian side and so the scoreline remained until the dying moments.
Despite the home side being down to ten men it took until the 85th minute before Rennes finally edged in front.
Reflecting on the game, Hill said: "On nights like this it is all about the result and coming to Croatia for a cup tie was not likely to be a simple job.
"We performed well and we did just about enough.
"We needed two very late goals but I would say that it flattered them to be level going into those last 5 minutes and the two goals for us were more than deserved.
"I was concerned at the start when I saw that Dynamo wanted to play long-ball football, always a change they could sneak a draw and the lottery of a penalty shootout but we managed to get the better of the key moments especially in the last minutes and we can be very happy to progress to the next round."

288

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Rennes manager Drew Hill will be hoping for a Monster performance from his Stade Rennais side this evening against Salzburg.
Rennes head to Austria looking for their first points of the season after a home defeat on the opening day of the season.
Confidence should be high after a 3-1 EFL cup victory over Dynamo Zagreb in Croatia.
The players travelled directly to Salzburg after the game to prepare for the encounter with the fizzy drink lovers.


Hill will be hoping to see energy from his players in tonight's match.

At the pre match press conference Hill said: "I think this will be a tough game, a Monster challenge for us.
"Salzburg have some good players and are undefeated so far this season.
"We will need to be at Full Throttle and every player will need to have the confidence of a Rock Star. If we do that we can surely win and start our league campaign with a Bang."

Shaun Wright Phillips is expected to return to the starting line up tonight with Hill also considering deploying an extra midfielder to shut down any threat Salzburg may offer from the wings!

205

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Red Bull Salzburg 1
S_Pavlovic (3)
Rennes 4
F_Mane (4), M_Hamsik (9,30), J_O_Mikel (21)

Stade Rennais commited one of the most convincing smash-and-grab victories in history with a 4-1 victory at Red Bull Salzburg.
Youth midfielders Marek Hamsik and John Obi-Mikel were stars of the show. Hamsik in particular impressing with two goals and assisting an effort from Obi-Mikel.


Hamsik and Mikel starred in Salzburg with three goals between them on the way to a surpise 4-1 victory.

Special mention should also go to captain Geoffrey Lembet, who put in one of the perfomances of his life to restrict the home side to only one goal.
Salzburg dominated most aspects of the game but found Lembet in incredible form, the veteran making 17 saves to keep the Austrians out.
At the other end, particularly in the opening half an hour, everything which Stade Rennais touched seemed to hit the back of the net.
Within half an hour the French side lead 4-1 and never looked back.

Manager Drew Hill said: "We need to make a swift exit from Austria before we get arrested for theft. This was a travesty, but we will take it!
"Salzburg dominated every available metric apart from the scoreline. Our new youthful midfielders certainly packed their shooting boots, two goals for Hamsik and one for Obi-Mikel.
"Meanwhile Geoffrey played one of the games of his life, credit to him for that after he was so poor on the opening day.
"We felt unlucky to lose on the opening day and incredibly lucky to win today, so now we are even."

250

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Rennes 1
M_Hamsik (32)
Real Betis 2
B_Traore (27), D_Nunez (76)

Rennes fell to their second home defeat of the season with a 2-1 result against Real Betis.
The Spanish side went in front just before the half hour mark through Traore but within five minutes Rennes were level with another goal from young midfielder Marek Hamsik, his fourth of the season so far.
Both sides had chances in an entertaining encounter but it was Betis' Darwin Nunez who earned his side victory with a 76th minute strike.


Disappointment for Brenden Aaronson at the final whistle.

Hill said: "This was a good game with two sides who came out looking to play entertaining football. I want to say that made it enjoyable but only if we end up on the right side of the result.
"We gave a good account of ourselves but in the end Betis had that little bit of extra quality up front which saw them get the win.
"Overall we can be quite pleased with the performance and can expect to pick up points if we continue to pay like this."

Hill's side hit the road again for their next match, an EFL2 second round tie at Union Berlin.

192

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EFL Cup Round 2
Union Berlin 3
S_Aguero (12,25), M_Faye (65)
Rennes 2
A_Gouiri (32,36)

Stade Rennais' cup journey came to an end at the second hurdle with a 3-2 defeat in Germany against Union Berlin.
The French side went two goals behind early on but battled back to level matters before a second half goal from Mikayil Faye sent the Germans into the next round.
Rennes showed their battling qualities and played their part in an entertaining encounter, but will be watching the next rounds of the competition at home on the TV screen.
The biggest positive for the Breton side is the return to form of last season's topscorer Amine Gouiri who netted twice as Rennes battled back to 2-2 before half time.


Disappointment for Drew Hill in Berlin as his side exits the cup in the second round.

Manager Drew Hill had no complaints after the game, claiming that Union Berlin were worthy winners.
He said: "Of course there is always disappointment when you battle back from a 2 goal deficit only to concede again and lose the game.
"Overall, Union played a good game and we were a little too predictable and paid the price.
"Our cup journey ends earlier than we would like but this is not a result we can complain about."

200

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EFL2, Matchday 4
Atalanta 1
T_Koopmeiners (65)
Rennes 2
F_Mane (41), A_Truffert (47)

Young defenders Adrien Truffert and Filippo Mane starred as Rennes picked up their second away win of the season.
Goals from Truffert and Mane helped Drew Hill's French side on their way to a hard fought victory in Bergamo.
Winless this season at home, the Bretons are enjoying themselves on the road with this their second successive league victory on their travels.
Mane's goal set the Rouge et Noir on their way before Truffert doubled the advantage seconds before the half time whistle.


Truffert and Mane celebrate Rennes' second goal, just before half time.

Atalanta pulled a goal back in the second half through the impressive Teun Koopmeiners but were unable to make any further impression on the scoreline.
Rennes manager Drew Hill was delighted with the performance of his young defensive duo.
He said; "Another away game where we have come away with a victory which will leave the opposition manager scratching his head.
"The win was thanks to great performances from young defensive duo Adrien Truffert and Filippo Mane, not just as goalscorers but contributing with key tackles and passes as well.
"Atalanta pulled a goal back and put us under pressure afterwards but we managed to hold on."

201

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April Review

Round 23
Rennes 1-1 Atalanta

Kalimuendo's second half leveller secures deserved but disappointing point for Drew Hill's Rennes.
Without injured goalkeeper Geoffrey Lembet it was always a case of damage limitation and Hill seemed happy with the point his side earned
Having fallen behind to Doyle's strike for Atalanta just after the break, Arnaud Kalimuendo's grabbed an equaliser just minutes after the striker had been introduced from the bench.
However, the French side were wasteful in front of goal meaning it ended as another game where fans come away not sure whether to be pleased or disappointed, typical of this current season for the French side.
"Overall I guess we are happy with a point, but we do know that it could have been more." Hill said.
"We created chances but our shooting today was woeful, only two shots on target out of 15. That is not good enough.
"Arnaud has come off the bench and scored immediately and we have to thank him that at least we didn't come away with a defeat".

Round 24
Lazio 3-2 Rennes

Julio Alvarez's last minute penalty earned Lazio victory in what will probably go down as one of the games of the season.
Rennes manager Drew Hill was left wondered what might have been after his side travelled home pointless from Italy despite an encouraging display.
After a largely uneventful opening half and an opening goal from Johan Paul van Hecke for Lazio just after the break, the game flew into life in a chaotic final 20 minutes.
Waniss Taibi, fresh from the substitutes' bench was the unlikely source of an equaliser for the French side but Lazio's lead was immediately restored by Alvarez.
From the kick-off Rennes then equalised again through Warmed Omari. Three goals in one of the craziest minutes of football in FFO history.
Both sides would probably have felt the draw was fair but there was still time for one final twist as John Obi Mikel handled the ball on the line and Alvarez nervelessly scored from the spot.
A visibly disappointed Hill said: "Injury time goals are always hard to take.
"We did enough to earn a point, we deserved that point and now we have to go home with nothing.
"It didn't even look like a handball to me, I don't know why the VAR didn't look at it and that is disappointing.
"All we can do is pick ourselves up for the next game."

Round 25
Schalke 0-2 Rennes

Rennes had returning goalkeeper Geoffrey Lembet to thank as they bounced back with a return to winning ways at German side Schalke.
The French side were dominated for long periods of time by their German hosts, but the home side found Lembet in unbeatable form on his return from injury.
The Rennes' goalkeeper had already been called into action three times by the ninth minute when Amine Giouri was brought down in the box and despatched the penalty himself to give his side the lead.
At this point Schalke changed their tactical plans and continued to dominate without being able to find the net.
Midway through the second half defender Fillipo Mane hit home a cross from Enzo Le Fee and with a change to a defensive outlook the French side were able to hold out for a victory.
Manager Drew Hill said: "We will take this win happily. We put the ball in the net and that is all you have to do in this game".
"Lembet was sensational today and when you have a keeper putting in that kind of perfirmance confidence builds in the rest of the team.
"We needed this win and I hope we can continue to pick up more points now."

Round 26
Rennes 1-1 RB Leipzig

Rennes and Leipzig setlled for a draw in a match which will not live long in the memory of those who came to watch.
Brendon Aaronson opened the scoring with only three minutes on the clock but the German fizzy-drink lovers levelled the scores with little more than 10 minutes remaining courtesy of a penalty from Luka Jovic.
Hill remonstrated with the officials as Geoffrey Lembet appeared to have claimed the ball before Jovic went over under the challenge.
The manager's appeals fell on deaf ears and Jovic confidently smashed his effort down the middle of the goal to ultimately claim a point for his side.
"Hard not to be disappointed with this one" Hill said.
"It's always good to win in front of our fans and we were about ten minutes away from that.
"I'm not going to comment on that [the penalty decision] I just hope that at some point in the future we get given a soft penalty in our favour becuase we are certainly due one."

Round 27
Athletic Bilbao 3-1 Rennes

Rennes slipped further towards the bottom end of the table after being comprehensively beaten by Spanish hosts Athletic Bilbao.
The French side had lost only one of the last seven matches going into this one but you would not have realised from the perfomance they gave in Northern Spain.
Hill stuck with the lineup which has served them well in recent weeks, including veteran midfielder Nemanja Matic who has made a surprise resurgance into first team contention.
Just before the half-hour Serrano opened the scoring for Bilbao and thety doubled that advantage before the break through Guruzeta.
Rennes enjoyed their fair share of possession but were lmited to passing around in their own half never looked likely to come back from the deficit.
Hopes were completely extinguished on the hour mark as Guruzeta doubled his tally.
Rennes were awarded a penalty in injury time and Amine Gouiri converted but it was barely a consolation for the disappointing visitors.
Afterwards, Rennes manager Drew Hill said: "That one of the most disappointing results of the season.
"We never looked like a threat in this game and we have made Bilbao look like one of the best teams in this league.
"There is almost nothing positive we can take from this. We have made ourselves hard to beat this season but certainly not today."

Round 28
Rennes 2-1 Ajax

Rennes came from behind to secure victory over promotion contenders Ajax at Roazhon Park.
The Dutch visitors arrived in good spirits and went ahead after just six minutes through Paixao's 10th goal of the season.
Shaun Wright-Phillips forced a fine save from Ajax's Trubin before Warmed Omari equalised after 20 minutes.
Both sides had opportunities but the decisive goal came on 68 minutes with Wright-Phillips this time finding the net for what turned out to be the winning goal.
"What a great feeling" manager Drew Hill remarked, moments after the final whistle sounded.
"We needed to produce a performance after last week's showing.
"Yes we are not focused on results this season but we cannot accept performances like we had last week.
"We are a better team than that and we showed it today by winning against a team who are fighting for the playoff positions.
"They will have expected to come here and win but we spoiled their party."

Round 29
Porto 2-1 Rennes

Rennes were once again unable to register back to back victories as they fell to a controversial narrow defeat against Porto in Portugal.
Yannick Gerhardt's hotly contested winner, awarded after a VAR intervention, was enough for victory for the Portugese hosts.
Rennes manger Drew Hill branded the decision "disgraceful" as it seemed Geoffrey Lembet had stopped the ball from crossing the line.
The struggling French side had fallen behind early to a strike Fernando Navarro after 13 minutes but Shaun Wright-Phillips continued a decent run of form with an equaliser just after the half-hour.
Neither side was particularly convincing for the remainder of the game with neither goalkeeper tested to any great level.
That was until that controversial second-half moment when Lembet was left desperately clawing away a chip from Gerhardt.
Enough for Porto to claim a victory which maintained their position in the playoff places.
Rennes manager Drew Hill was understandably disappointed.
"It's a disgraceful decision". he said.
"The ball didn't cross the line and VAR has no business getting involved there when we have goal line technology.
"They seemed desparate to give a goal there, I guess they wanted something memorable from this game because otherwise it was pretty terrible.
"I am not saying we deserved to win, we didn't but a draw would have been welcome and more than deserved".

Round 30
Rennes 1-2 Lyon

Another day another 'unlucky' defeat for Rennes, who remain in danger of slipping into the bottom three places after defeat against Lyon.
While relegation is not a possibility manager Drew Hill has stated that it is his and the club's ambition not to finish in the bottom three places.
However after a 15th defeat of the season and one of the worst defensive records in the division the French side are certainly one of the prime candidates for one of those spots.
Despite taking the lead through a first half goal from Brendan Aaronson the Rouge et Noir surrendered that lead with a lacklustre second half performance.
Goals from Milan Baros and Lassina Traore allowed French rivals Lyon to claim the spoils.
It was an afternoon to forget for Rennes' goalkeeper Geofrrey Lembet who was nutmegged by Baros for the equaliser and then allowing Traore to score a rebound even though the original shot was from outside of the box.
Hill stopped short of blaming the veteran stopper for the defeat but admitted that he "expected better" from his first choice between the sticks after Lyons scored twice from only seven shots on target.
"Of course I expected better, Geoffrey expects better of himself than what he showed today" Hill said.
"It contributed but I am not going to hold him alone responsible. It is also the case that we scored only one goal from 18 shots on goal.
"That is not good enough to win games at this level".

Following the disappointing result against Lyon manager Drew Hill was asked to give his overall opinion about his side's performance over the month of April.
"It is hard to sit here and tell you that I am satisfied with the way things have gone". He said.
"Of course there are mitigating circumstances, this is a young side and we have reached the point of the season where we have to give game time to certain players who are not first choice but we do not want to lose from the squad at the end of the season.
"Having said that, we should be winning more games, our performances overall have deserved more points.
"What is positive is that we are scoring goals. There is not a team in the bottom half which has scored more goals than us even some of the teams in the playoff places have scored less than us.
"The flip side of that is that we have one of the worst defensive records and that's the reason we are where we are in the table.
"I have to take responsibility for that with the style of play, we are playing open expansive football and leaving ourselves vulnerable defensively.
"Not the way to play if you want to win the league but we are more interested in player development and on that front I am quite happy.
"Our young players continue to learn and hopefully in the last month or so of the season we have met the contractual obligations to the squad players and can concentrate on letting these guys continue thier impressive development".
Things do not get any easier for the struggling French side as their next fixtures see them travel to second placed Shaktar Donetsk and then welcoming the powerful, and yet underperforming, Borussia Dortmund to Roazhon Park. Defeat in either or both of those fixtures could see the Rouge et Noir slipping into a very much unwanted bottom three position.

2001