Five days before the end of the French Ligue 1 football championship, some are starting to breathe better and easier. Strasbourg thus dominated Reims on Saturday April 13, while Toulouse, winners at the break, confirmed their recovery by beating Rennes on the 29th day.
The Bretons, ninth at kick-off, recorded their fourth consecutive defeat, the third in Ligue 1, and saw their European ambitions thwarted once again. “Six matches to qualify, Europe is not an option but an obligation,” Kop supporters proclaimed on a banner before the match, but we cannot say that the message got through.
If Désiré Doué opened the scoring after a magnificent solitary raid (1-0, 20th), Toulouse, well in place defensively, turned the game around with two close goals. The first came from a touch following a risky pass from Steve Mandanda towards Warmed Omari, on which the Rennais completely forgot to reposition themselves, leaving Cristian Casseres to unleash a superb strike from more than 20 meters close to the post (1- 1, 22nd). Ten minutes later, it was a soft clearance from Guéla Doué which allowed Toulouse to recover the ball on the edge of the area, before combining like a parade to allow Moussa Diarra to give the Violets the advantage (1 -2, 32nd).
Benjamin Bourigeaud (41st), Baptiste Santamaria (49th) and Guéla Doué (78th) tried to equalize in the second half for Rennais, but their distant attempts sounded like so many admissions of helplessness. Since the last international break, the Rennais have lost all their matches, falling in the standings and leaving the Coupe de France at the quarter-final stage. They also lost their playmaker Enzo Le Fée who was making his first start in more than two months, leaving injured and in tears in the 37th minute.
The Bretons remain 9th with 39 points, now under threat from Lyon (38 points) which plays Sunday against Brest, runner-up to PSG. For Toulouse, 11th with 36 points, the end of the season should now be very peaceful.
Strasbourg overthrows Reims
A little earlier in the day, Reims, which like Rennes can still hope to secure a place in the European Cup, opened the scoring in the 8th minute in Strasbourg, thanks to its Japanese striker Keito Nakamura, served by his compatriot Junya Ito . But everything went from bad to worse for the Rémois who conceded a penalty at the very end of the first period, transformed by Kevin Gameiro for the 101st goal of his career in Ligue 1 (1-1, 44th).
And Amadou Koné, who came into play in the 23rd minute in place of the injured Valentin Atangana Edoa, received a second yellow card in stoppage time in the first act, leaving his partners at ten for the second half. Strasbourg took advantage of it. Upon receiving a free kick, Abakar Sylla gave his team the advantage (2-1, 50th) and Moïse Sahi Dion added to the score in added time (3-1, 90th 3).
This is the fourth match in a row without defeat for RC Strasbourg, 12th in the standings with 36 points, which, like Toulouse, leaves Lorient, current play-off player, on 10 points. A mattress comfortable enough to manage the end of the season with peace of mind.
