The very young Rennes team, deprived of several executives (Bourigeaud, Terrier, Traoré and Xeka), undoubtedly learned and grew a lot this Thursday. But at what cost ? Despite their patience and stubbornness, the Breton club, which believed they had snatched their qualification for the knockout stages of the Europa League once morest the tough Chakthior Donetsk, thanks to Ibrahim Salah’s goal in extra time (106th), was finally eliminated at the end of the penalty shootout (2-1, 4 tab to 5; 1-2 in the first leg), the young Jeanuël Belocian (18 years old) having marked his camp and restarted everything one minute from time (119th).
Much earlier, Bruno Genesio’s players had tried to pack the opening match, imposing great pressure on the Chakthior, which had materialized with two strikes from Amine Gouiri and Djed Spence, repelled by Anatole Troubine ( 2nd and 7th). The Ukrainian goalkeeper also intervened on shots from Adrien Truffert (11th) and Lovro Majer (28th), as his team began to rebalance the debates. But in the first period overall, the Breton club did not support its actions enough to deserve to lead in the score. And he might even have been led if a goal had not been denied to Lassina Traoré, by the VAR, for a handball beforehand by Artem Bondarenko (22nd, see below).
Shortly following the restart, the match tipped on the right side with a dazzling flash from Jérémy Doku, relayed by Gouiri, before a happy conclusion from Karl Toko Ekambi (52nd). A rapid attack that remained without follow-up, because despite the support of their supporters, the Rennais struggled to accentuate this advantage. They even came close to equalizing on a recovery from Yukhym Konoplya, slammed by Steve Mandanda (66th), and on a dangerous delivery in front of goal by Alexandre Zoubkhov (87th). In the extension, Gouiri still came up once morest Troubine (102nd), before the issue, it was thought, until the terrible error of Belocian. And the successive failures of Doku, Meling and Ugochukwu in the fateful session in front of the impassable Troubine, executioner of a Stade Rennais with eyes reddened by such a scenario.
The fact: the VAR yet to the rescue of Rennes
On the first Ukrainian incursion, following a shot from Konoplya deflected for a corner by Mandanda (21st), Chakthior Donetsk believed to have achieved the perfect shot. Upon receiving a deflection from Bondarenko in the area, Traoré took advantage of the wait-and-see attitude of Truffert and Spence to score from close range (22nd). But the joy of Igor Jovicevic and his players was short-lived. The intervention of VAR, for a handball by Bondarenko, immediately put the two teams at 0-0. A first opportunity to ignite for the Roazhon Park, where the calm will fall quickly at the end of the evening.
The number: 11
Author of Rennes’ first goal, Karl Toko-Ekambi (11 goals) became Cameroon’s top scorer in C3 ahead of Samuel Eto’o (10).
