Rennes – ASSE, the summary
ASSE had the good idea to win in Rennes this Sunday in this match counting for the 25th day of Ligue 1. Indeed, in the race to maintain, many contenders for survival have won or not lost: Nîmes, Lorient, Nantes, Strasbourg. ASSE cannot afford to look upwards yet, but remains in this good dynamic in the league, winning ten points out of twelve possible in four matches.
If we look at the figures of this meeting, we may wonder how the Greens won:
- Possession : 72% for Rennes
- Shots: 13 for Rennes, 6 for Saint-Étienne
- Successful passes : 83% on the Rennes side, only 59% for the Stephanois
- Centers : 36 against 12 in favor of Rennes
But, there is a number for the Greens: the number of interceptions. He’s from 20 against 5. Because, yes, the ASSE did not have much the ball but knew, for once, to be efficient and realistic. The Greens performed well on the counterattack and were strong in defense.
They were also able to count on rediscovered individualities. Khazri carried offensively this Stéphane team, Bouanga regained confidence by finding the way to the goal, and Nordin had an excellent comeback by confirming the victory of his team. We can also highlight the great performance from a very solid defensive block which was never really endangered by the Rennes attack.
A copy not perfect, of course, but which shows that the Saint-Etienne group has qualities and that it has all the cards to stay quickly in Ligue 1. We still have to continue and beat the direct opponents (Reims and Lorient arrive quickly) .
Note also that the arbitration was, for once, on the side of ASSE. Indeed, Cisse could have conceded a penalty and Debuchy be sent off after a nasty tackle that we would not necessarily have crying out for. But the wind has turned in the direction of the Greens and in all areas. The men of Puel were able to seize this opportunity to obtain a deserved, beautiful and important victory.