Rennes beat Le Mans 3-2 at Roazhon Park in Ligue 1's second regular season match on Saturday afternoon. The hosts took two goals early, Le Mans fought back to level, then Rennes held on despite a red card to go through. It was a game that unfolded in episodes rather than patterns.
E. Lepaul opened the scoring in the fifth minute, and V. Rongier doubled the advantage before Le Mans could settle. L. Mafouta pulled one back in the 30th minute, and by then the match had already shifted from comfortable to something more uncertain. The visitors had found a rhythm, and Rennes needed to respond.
Le Mans took the lead when L. Mafouta converted a penalty in the 54th minute. But Rennes had nothing to lose at that point and pushed forward. D. Sidibe's red card in the 68th minute changed the shape of things, leaving Le Mans with more space to work with, though they could not capitalise.
E. Lepaul got his second in the 90th minute plus six, again from the spot, and that was enough. The match stretched into extra time and there were late bookings on all sides. E. Lepaul joined A. Ait Boudlal and H. Voyer in the book as the visitors tried to find an equaliser they never quite reached.
Rennes dominated possession at 64 per cent and created six big chances, but Le Mans registered a higher expected goals total of 2.98 to 2.66. The visitors were more clinical with their shots, hitting 42 per cent accuracy compared to Rennes' 36. Rennes had 17 shots inside the penalty area to Le Mans' eight, but the difference came in conversion.
The result keeps Rennes sixth on 59 points after 34 games, while Le Mans remain 13th with just one point from two matches. The hosts have now seen off a side that could have caused problems, even if the margin was narrower than the final score suggests.
