Ligue 1: a Lille with character snatches a draw against Rennes

Rennes thought they had their victory. Thanks to goals from Ludovic Blas (1st) and Arnaud Kalimuendo (20th), the Bretons led by two goals on Sunday in Lille for the 25th day of Ligue 1. That was without counting on a double from Jonathan David (84th, 90th 2 ), who snatched the point from a draw for LOSC. Final score 2-2 and status quo in the standings.

Under the eyes of Eden Hazard, honored by LOSC this Sunday afternoon, Lille missed their start to the match. On Rennes' first recovery, Benjamin Bourigeaud was found on his left wing. He raised his head and looked for Arnaud Kalimuendo in the area, but the striker was unable to stop the trajectory of the ball. Fortunately for Julien Stéphan, Ludovic Blas had followed this action well and came to jump in to score with his head the fastest goal of his career in Ligue 1 (0-1, 1st). Stunned by this early opening score, the Mastiffs were unable to react and continued to suffer from Rennes' offensives without being really dangerous on the other side. With very high pressure, the visitors put constant pressure on Lille in these first 20 minutes. On a missed restart, Kalimuendo hooked in front of his defender to get on his right foot. He hit hard and his attempt hit the post before lodging in Lucas Chevalier's net to score the break goal (0-2, 20th).

Jostled, Paulo Fonseca's players had to react. Thanks to percussion from the untenable Zhegrova, the flame was reignited and the fervor returned little by little to the stands of the Stade Pierre Mauroy. Steve Mandanda showed himself to be imperial on his line in order to maintain his team's lead in this first act. Still trailing by two goals, Lille still returned to the locker room with glimmers of hope for this second act (0-2). From the restart, Lille remained at the same intensity as at the end of the first period. But by wanting to push too much, spaces were created in the defense and the Rennais used them wonderfully. Always imprecise in the last or penultimate gesture, Bourigeaud's teammates were unable to hit the nail on the head to take a three-goal lead in this game.

Despite Lille pressing as intense as ever, the Rennais let the storm pass and finally seemed to get their heads above water. But while everything seemed to be returning to normal and the Bretons were heading towards a solid victory in this race for Europe, Paulo Fonseca had not said his last word. Found in the area on a superb pass from Trévis Dago, the Canadian scorer, Jonathan David deceived Mandanda with a beautiful cross shot to give hope to an entire stadium (1-2, 84th). Pushed by their supporters, the Mastiffs could not stop there. On a cross from Yazici, Cabella headed back but Steve Mandanda, heroic in his goals this afternoon, pushed back the head of the former Montpellier player. But once again the Lille serial scorer had followed well and took advantage of the French goalkeeper's position on the ground to push the ball into the back of the net to equalize (2-2, 90th 2nd).

Despite some flashes in the final moments, neither Rennais nor Lille managed to get back into the lead; the two teams logically shared the points at the end of this 25th day and the positions in the ranking remain unchanged.