Rennes cruise past Lyon in dominant start to Ligue 1 campaign
After overseeing Lyon’s spectacular 2023/24 season which saw them go from bottom of the league to European qualification on the final day, Pierre Sage would have wanted his side to start this campaign much better than the last.
In Brittany, the visitors dominated possession in the early stages, showing their intent right from the off.
However, that early dominance counted for nothing as Rennes netted twice in quick succession midway through the first half. First, Benjamin Bourigeaud’s deflected free-kick deceived Lucas Perri in the Lyon goal.
Then, a mix-up at the back saw Amine Gouiri played through, and the Algerian rounded Perri before slotting home.
The hosts almost added a third minutes later, but Ludovic Blas saw his effort saved by the Brazilian goalkeeper.
Lyon looked desperate for the interval after conceding twice in two minutes and were grateful to head into the break without falling further behind.
Rennes continued to dominate after the restart and should have added a third 10 minutes in when Blas collected the ball in the box. In the end, though, just as he was about to pull the trigger, his effort was kept out by a last-ditch block.
The hosts continued their relentless waves of attack, with Gouiri denied a second goal as his looping shot struck the crossbar. Lyon were gifted a path back into the contest from the spot, but Georges Mikautadze’s 72nd minute penalty was saved by Steve Mandanda.
Sage’s men failed to recover from that penalty miss. Instead, Rennes looked likelier to net again and did so in stoppage time through Henrik Meister, who curled a pinpoint effort into the far corner from the edge of the box.
After their joint-lowest Ligue 1 finish for a decade last season, they will be hoping this dominant display is a sign of things to come over the coming nine months. In contrast, Lyon can surely only improve as they look to carry from where they left off last term.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Amine Gouiri (Rennes)