Lorient beat Rennes in Brittany derby | OneFootball

FC Lorient got the better of Brittany rivals Stade Rennais FC for the second time this season, winning Friday’s derby 2-1 at the Stade du Moustoir to leave the sides just two points apart in the race for European qualification.

FC Lorient 2-1 Stade Rennais FC

THE MATCH

Lorient had won just one of their previous nine Ligue 1 Uber Eats outings and have been distracted by transfer talk in the January window. Dango Ouattara had left the club for Bournemouth since their last league outing, while top scorer Terem Moffi – the subject of keen interest from OGC Nice – was not in the squad. In that context this was a remarkable performance against opponents who had beaten Paris Saint-Germain in their previous league game.

Montassar Talbi gave Lorient a 13th-minute lead, the Tunisian centre-back rising high to head in a right-wing corner for his first goal since arriving from Rubin Kazan prior to the start of the campaign. Christopher Wooh should have equalised for Rennes moments later, and instead Théo Le Bris made it 2-0 with a superb finish at the end of a counterattack (31’).

Rennes were lucky not to fall further behind as Steve Mandanda had to save from Ibrahima Koné when the striker was clean through on goal (39’) and Julien Ponceau had the ball in the net early in the second half only to be denied by the offside flag (46’).

The visitors kept pushing, however, and pulled one back in the 73rd minute when Hamari Traoré’s low ball into the middle was turned into the net by Flavien Tait. They then very nearly equalised in the last minute, as Amine Gouiri’s header was tipped onto the top of the bar by Vito Mannone.

Lorient are now just two points adrift of fifth-placed Rennes, whose inability to reproduce their excellent home form on their travels is costing them dear this season.

THE PLAYER: Théo Le Bris

Lorient were without their two top scorers this season, with Moffi left out of the squad while Ouattara has departed for the Premier League. They needed someone else to step up and Le Bris was the man, his superb strike at the end of a first-half breakaway proving to be the winner.

THE STAT: 6

This was a first win in six home games for Lorient. It was also a third successive away league loss for Rennes.

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