Saint-Etienne have defeated Rennes 2-0 at home in their Ligue 1 clash tonight.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang opened the scoring for the home side midway through the first half and Renaud Cohade doubled their advantage four minutes into the second period.
It was an exciting game of football, and here Sports Mole takes a closer look to see if the result was fair.
Match statistics:
Saint-Etienne:
Shots 10
On target 6
Possession 50%
Corners 6
Fouls 17
Rennes:
Shots 15
On target 7
Possession 50%
Corners 3
Fouls 14
Was the result fair?
Yes. St-Etienne deserved to win on the balance of play. They created the better chances and also hit the crossbar late in the second half.
Saint-Etienne's performance
St-Etienne moved the ball forward very smoothly and also made quick counterattacks. Coach Christophe Galtier will be pleased with the way his side performed in the attacking department, but he will have some work to do with his defence that opened up space for the Rennes attackers on some occasions.
Rennes's performance
Rennes struggled to create much when they had the ball and coach Frederic Antonetti will be worried with his side's lack of imagination. They did make attempts on goal, but lack of penetration was their undoing in the attacking department.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: The 23-year-old was a livewire upfront for St-Etienne and scored the opening goal of the match in the 22nd minute. Aubameyang went close on two other occasions and was a threat down the flanks.
Referee's performance
Phillipe Kalt displayed a very professional performance tonight. He let the game go on smoothly and made all the correct decisions. He rightly sent off Mevlut Erding in the final minutes of injury time, and smartly stopped the resulting brawl from spilling over into something unmanageable.
What next?
Saint-Etienne: St-Etienne are away at Sochaux in the Coupe de la Ligue Round of 16 in midweek and will then take on Paris Saint-Germain next weekend in league action.
Rennes: Rennes will hosts Arles at home in the Coupe de la Ligue Round of 16 and will then entertain Reims in Ligue 1.
Subhankar Mondal
