Rennes survive scare to make the quarters
07/02/2012
By S. Willis
Rennes became the first club to qualify for the Coupe de France's quarter-finals as they held out for a nervy 3-2 win over Evian, the promoted side notching two goals in as many second-half minutes but failing to force extra time.
Rennes beat Evian by the same score when the sides meet in the league in Week 15, but in truth the scoreline could have been vastly different as chances rained down at either end as Evian looked to level the scores and push tier luck in a breathless second half.
Flying start
Jirès Kembo got the hosts off to a flying start when his curling shot from the left-hand side of the area deflected in off Sidney Govou (21'), and Frédéric Antonetti's men pressed home their advantage to build a seemingly unassailable three-goal lead with 20 minutes left.
Julien Féret's clinical shot from outside the area left Stephan Andersen no chance in the Evian goal (54') and then Yacine Brahimi, brought on for the injured Kembo early in the second half, made it 3-0 with a rocket of a shot from distance (68').
Quick-fire comeback
Pablo Correa's Evian still had fight left in them, however, and Kévin Bérigaud got them on the comeback trail when he slotted home from the spot after Nicolas Farina had been dragged down by Jean-Armel Kana-Biyik (70', pen). Two minutes later and it was Rennes on the back foot, ex-OL winger Sidney Govou scoring his first goal for Evian with a deft touch and clinical shot at full pace (72').
At 3-2, extra time was a real possibility and while Rennes did their best to rule it out by scoring another - Mevlut Erding notably failing to hit the target with a double chance at close range (75') - Evian came agonisingly close when Cédric Barbosa slammed a shot off the cross-bar (88').
But not close enough. Rennes live to fight another day in the Coupe de France quarter-finals on March 20, while Evian now turn their attention back to league duty, where a home clash with Marseille looms on Saturday night.