Multiplex: Santos leads Racing romp and more
Match Reports
In Sunday afternoon's multiplex, Racing Club de Strasbourg kept their unbeaten start to the season alive with a comprehensive home win over Stade Rennais, while FC Nantes did the same against ten-man Auxerre, and Toulouse FC came back from a goal down to draw away to OGC Nice.
A scoring return for Santos
In what was one of the weekend's surprising results, RC Strasbourg laid down an impressive marker at home in beating Stade Rennais in their home opener, 3-1. The Bretons had turned in a classy display in beating Lyon last weekend, 3-0, while Racing struggled at times against Montpellier, but on the evening, Liam Rosenior's side, led by midfielder Andrey Santos, back from suspension, cruised to a comfortable win. The Brazilian put his side ahead at a corner midway through the first half before Dutch striker Emanuel Emegha, last year's leading scorer, doubled the lead just after the break.
Rennes would respond through Ludovic Blas, and boss Julién Stéphan made several changes to his team, bringing on the likes of Arnaud Kalimuendo and Hans Hateboer, but even as the hosts looked ragged at times, they held their nerve to keep their narrow lead, and added a third late on when Christopher Wooh turned in a cross from Dilane Bakwa at the near post. Sékou Mara, signed from Southampton in the week, thought he had added a fourth in injury time, but the flag went up. With a match against struggling Lyon to come before the break on Friday, Racing will look to build on this result and can even go provisionally top of the table with a win against Les Gones.
🇧🇷 Back like he never left 💙🤍#RCSASRFC (1-0) pic.twitter.com/FbrJXGy7cz
— Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace English (@RCSA_English) August 25, 2024
Nantes impress again
After a gritty scoreless draw last weekend away to Toulouse, FC Nantes kept another clean sheet this evening, this time at home to promoted Auxerre. After the visitors' impressive last-ditch win against Nice last weekend, Antoine Kombouaré was wary of his opponents' potential to be dangerous. Wanting to instill in his players a sense of pride, he even had them train on the pitch at the Stade Beaujoire this week, and his gambit worked a charm as veteran winger Moses Simon scored early doors to give his side a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
Auxerre were able to keep the ball well, and fashioned plenty of chances, but after the sending off of Ado Onaiwu early in the second half, they struggled to exert any substantial influence on the match, and the match drifted somewhat before 17-year-old Bahreba Guirassy added an insurance goal off the bench for the hosts, who will head to Montpellier next weekend.
Finally, OGC Nice are still without a win under new manager Franck Haise after they were held at the Allianz Riviera by a plucky Toulouse side. Jonathan Clauss, playing on the right side of a new look 3-5-2 for Les Aiglons, would give his team the lead, but Shavy Babicka equalized off the bench. Les Violets will now look to frustrate in-form Marseille next weekend while Nice will head to winless Angers hoping to get their season on track.
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