LOSC Lille 1-1 Stade Rennais | Match Report
LOSC Lille maintained a 50 year unbeaten home record against Stade Rennais, however a last-gasp penalty denied the hosts a slender victory.
Transfer deadline day signing, Eder, opened the scoring for Lille three minutes before the break, but after going down to 10 men in the second half, the hosts couldn't hold on and Ousmane Dembele converted a last minute penalty.
All Lille in the first period
The match took a while to get going with both sides having an equal share of possession with no clear cut chances presenting themselves.
The first shot on-target came 20 minutes into the match when Ibrahim Amadou produced a powerful volley which was strongly held by Benoit Costil in the Rennes goal.
Costil had to act smart to get down to Lille's next effort, this time Mounir Obaddi with a clean shot along the ground.
The Rennes defence were no mean shakes in the first half and bad decision making almost put them in an element of danger on several occasions.
Lille did take the lead 42 minutes into the match when Eder tapped the ball in at the far post following a corner. The set-piece was awarded after Costil's spilled catch was diverted out by Romain Danze before Eder could follow-up.
Equal second period
A much more spirited Rennes team came out for the start of the second half and posed lots problems for Frederic Antonetti's men.
Kamil Grosicki had Rennes' first shot on-target in the match when a threatening attacking move broke through the sturdy Lille back-line. The Pole's shot from an acute angle inside the box was stopped by Vincent Enyeama.
Lille could have doubled their lead a minute later when Yassine Benzia, a half-time sub for Eder, was denied by the legs of Costil.
The home side were made to rue not scoring from the chance when they were put down to 10 men following the sending off of Sofiane Boufal. The attacking midfielder committed the same foul twice, a stamp on Pedro Mendes, within four minutes and was booked twice for the offences.
Although Rennes were not awarded a clear penalty on Paul-Georges Ntep on 76 minutes, they did get their wish at the final time of asking when the winger was fouled inside the box a minute from the 90. The spot-kick awarded was less convincing than the previous challenge that was waved play-on, and the referee had to consult his linesman.
The taker was 18-year-old, Dembele, and with all the pressure that was on him he didn't let that show as he slotted the penalty away with ease.
Although he didn't put in the most convincing performance, Costil made a point-earning save just before the full time whistle. On the counter-attack, Djibril Sidibe cut a shot across goal forcing Costil to get down immediately to parry out.
After the match, Antonetti, said his side must improve in finding the second goal and thought his team put a lot of effort into the match.
Next week, Lille travel to the Paris to play the champions, PSG, on Saturday, while Rennes host Angers SCO the night before.
