Ten-man Lens battle to heroic draw in Rennes
In a thrilling match in which the visitors played virtually the entire match with ten men, RC Lens held on away to Stade Rennais in a scoreless draw to end Matchday 6 in Ligue 1 McDonald's. Read on for our full match report.
Quickly down to ten men, Lens resist...
In what had shaped up to be a fine end to the Ligue 1 McDonald's matchday -- a battle between the swashbuckling styles of former Red Star colleagues Habib Beye (Stade Rennais) and Pierre Sage (RC Lens), this match quickly looked as if the life could be sucked out of it. Indeed, when veteran Lens defender Jonathan Gradit was sent off with less than a minute to play, it looked as if Le Sang et Or, playing on the road against a capable opponent, would surely crumble.
But despite Gradit's sending-off, Sage never hesitated, and it was the visitors who might have felt themselves unlucky to have left with only a point, despite their numerical disadvantage. Indeed, the first big chance of the half would fall to Lens, as Malian midfielder Mamadou Sangaré, spotting Brice Samba off his line, attempted to lob the French international, who was forced to turn the ball behind for a corner (26'). And Lens were far from done testing their former teammate, has he had to be sharp at the resulting corner to keep out a header by Matthieu Udol (27'). No further chances would come and the two teams entered the break with the match scoreless.
...and have their fare share of chances!
Into the second half, Rennes would have considered themselves lucky again as Adrien Thomasson hit the post with a volley (50'). Lens would keep up the pressure, with Florian Thauvin consistently providing an outlet on the break, and it was from the 2018 World Cup winner's free kick that substitute Morgan Guilavogui narrowly missed giving his side the lead (65').
As the match drew to a close, however, Rennes would take advantage of a leggy opponent and Robin Risser had to make a fine stop against an acrobatic volley by Esteban Lepaul (84'). In added time, Udol had to be sharp to block an effort by Musa Al-Taamari, but come the final whistle, it was the visitors who escaped with an impressive draw and clean sheet. With the draw, Lens draw level with rivals Lille on ten points, while Rennes sit eighth.
The stat: 53
Lens defender Jonathan Gradit was sent off after just 53 seconds -- only three players have been sent off more quickly since 2001.
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