Saint-Etienne 1-1 Rennes | Match Report

Saint-Etienne were fortunate to salvage a point thanks to a late penalty against Stade Rennais at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.

The hosts found it difficult to break down the formidable back-line and were punished when they went behind on 40 minutes due to a Pedro Henrique goal. ASSE were void of ideas and were bailed out on 78 minutes when they were awarded and scored a penalty.

Former Rennes men, Fabien Lemoine and Vincent Pajot started for Les Verts in the match, while another ex-player, Kévin Théophile-Catherine couldn't make the squad. Les Rouges et Noirs continued to change their starting eleven, this time with Juan Quintero getting the nod to start. Also back from a lengthy absence from the team was club captain, Romain Danzé.

Attack against defence in first half

The first chance came in the fifth minute when Kevin Monnet-Paquet glanced header from a cross towards Benoit Costil who made easy work of catching it. He was back on the prowl for a goal soon after, putting pressure on the Rennes defence. However, Pedro Mendes managed to handle the danger and kept him quiet thereafter.

From a Rennes perspective, they had to weather a pretty full-on storm. They were restricted to their own half for the most part and saw little in the way of chances. One scare they did give Saint-Etienne was Henrique's vicious effort from 25 yards which caught Stéphane Ruffier by surprise, forcing him to make a late parry away. The counter-attack through the Brazilian winger was a persistent offensive tactic from the Bretons.

Just five minutes from the half-time whistle, Henrique was rewarded for his tireless work when he put Rennes a goal in front. Giovanni Sio done the leg-work as he ran towards the byline, crossing a perfectly weighted ball to Henrique who tapped in from six yards. The scorer dedicated his goal to his partner during the celebration.

In added time, the lead was almost snatched away in an instant. A smart cross into the box from a free kick was met by the diving header from Loïc Perrin who made Costil react quick to tip over the bar.

Saint-Etienne show character in second half

The second half saw an upped tempo in the Saint-Etienne performance. From the off, an attacking onslaught had to be endured by Rennes with Monnet-Paquet and Perrin both missing good chances in the first few minutes.

ASSE substitute, Neal Maupay, was brought on to freshen up the attacking battalion and had an immediate effect. He headed narrowly wide from inside the six yard box following a drilled Monnet-Paquet cross on the edge of the area. Another sub used to freshen things, Valentin Eysseric, replaced Nolan Roux up top.

One of his first involvements in the match was to level the match when he slotted away a penalty on 78 minutes. There was no doubt on the award of the penalty as Romain Hamouma was clearly brought down by Sylvain Armand on the edge of the area. Eysseric, tasked with the penalty, calmly slotted home to the bottom right of the goal-mouth, sending Costil the wrong way.

There was little in the way of a winner for either team with both passing up half-chances as the game was nearing its end. Saint-Etienne full-back, Pierre-Yves Polomat, tried his luck from 20 yards only to see the ball go over the crossbar. Whereas, at the other end, Ousmane Dembélé's mazy run into the box was abruptly ended with him hitting a late, tame shot.

The next match for the Bretons is on Friday when they host SM Caen, while Saint-Etienne are in Europa League action on Thursday at home to Lazio.

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