L1: Rennes of Sampaoli returns to victory and sinks the Greens

Still perfectible but much more convincing, Rennes found its way to victory against Saint-Etienne (5-0), for the first time for new coach Jorge Sampaoli at home, Saturday, for the 13th day of Ligue 1.

This first success after three defeats in a row offers a breath of fresh air to the Bretons, provisionally eleventh with 14 points, while the Greens, 14th with 13 points, will follow the results of their pursuers: Nantes, 16th three lengths away, as well as Le Havre (15th) and Angers (17th) who face each other on Sunday.

They will also have to digest this defeat because the match could have turned out quite differently, with their attacker Mathieu Cafaro taking on the role of anti-hero.

In the 17th minute, well launched behind the back of Mikail Faye, who had misjudged the ball, Cafaro saw his shot hit the left post of Steve Mandanda, beaten.

Twelve minutes later, the striker could have benefited from a penalty on a push from Mahamadou Nagida behind his back but neither the referee Marc Bollengier nor the VAR found fault with it.

On the other hand, in the 34th minute, on a strike from midfielder Jordan James, the Stéphanois found nothing better to do than to extend his left arm to deflect the ball which finally hit the outside of the post.

After reviewing the images at the edge of the field, Mr. Bollengier considered that the hand had prevented a goal, adding a direct red card for the apprentice goalkeeper to the penalty (36th) transformed by Arnaud Kalimuendo (1-0, 39th), which ended two months of drought in front of goal.

The Sampaoli touch is felt

« Kali » even offered himself a hat-trick by scoring the 4th and 5th goals (61st and 67th on pen.) which will do him a lot of good.

This opening score was not, however, undeserved.

Apart from Cafaro’s two attacks, Saint-Etienne was unable to keep the ball even if Rennes was not very dangerous either.

The ” paw “ Sampaoli, who was finally able to work a full week with all her staff, gradually made her presence felt.

If the bubbling Argentinian was angry at the start of the match, in front of his bench, against the ball rising too slowly, the Rennes gradually gained confidence and showed much more drive and consistency than recently.

Ludovic Blas, who remained on the bench for an hour in Lille (0-1) last week, regained his role as offensive leader by doubling the lead just before the break (2-0, 45+5) before offering a caviar for Amine Gouiri’s header at 3-0 (53rd).

But the most surprising player was the 20-year-old Welsh international midfielder, Jordan James, in whom Julien Stéphan almost never trusted – 27 minutes of play over the first 11 days -, although he was very convincing in the second half in Lille and again against Saint-Etienne.

It was often he who provided the impetus going forward and, defensively, his central duo with Azor Matusiwa was also solid.

However, Rennes will have to be careful not to ignite as it did after the 3-0 victory on the first day against Lyon and confirm during the derby in Nantes next Sunday.