Brentford saw off Rennes 4-2 in a club friendly on Friday evening, a result that came despite the hosts enjoying more of the ball. The match at the Stade de la Beaujoire produced six goals in the opening forty-five minutes before settling into a rhythm of substitutions and late yellow cards. By then, only three goals remained to be scored across the second half.
I. Thiago opened the scoring in the nineteenth minute, a moment that felt like Rennes were going to control the tempo. To be fair, Brentford responded quickly through E. Pinnock twenty-eight minutes in, and the match took on a back-and-forth quality. The first half ended with Rennes leading 2-1 after Szymanski and Ouattara struck within ninety seconds of each other in stoppage time.
And here's the thing about that sequence between forty-seventh and forty-ninth minute — three goals in two minutes, and suddenly the scoreline meant very little. Wilson's strike put Brentford ahead, and Rennes had to reset their thinking. The stadium fell silent for a moment after Ouattara's second, then the game opened up again.
Rongier pulled one back for Rennes in the seventy-first minute, but the substitution pattern told its own story. Both sides made changes around the hour mark, and Rongier himself came off just six minutes after scoring. Frankowski and Ouattara were replaced late on, with the latter coming off after a productive evening.
Rennes dominated possession at 56 per cent and registered 100 attacks to Brentford's 78, yet the visitors took more corners — nine to six. The statistics suggest Rennes created more opportunities, but Brentford's efficiency in front of goal proved decisive. Yellow cards came at forty-five-plus-three and ninety-plus-four, keeping the match disciplined despite the open scoring.
The result extends a mixed run for Rennes, who had drawn with Galatasaray and beaten Club Brugge and Guingamp in recent friendlies before losing 1-2 to Brentford U21 earlier this week. Brentford, meanwhile, showed the same inconsistency they displayed throughout their Premier League campaign — drawing with Liverpool and Crystal Palace, losing to Manchester City and Manchester United, but also beating West Ham comfortably. What matters now is how both sides use these matches before the season starts.