Simon rendered harmless as 10-man Rennes sends Nantes deeper into relegation zone

Neither Super Eagles forward Moses Simon nor his Nantes teammates were unable to prevent Stade Rennais from running a 3-0 riot at the Roazhon Park  in Rennes on Sunday.

The 88th Breton derby saw a first-half strike from Amine Gouiri spark a commanding 3-0 victory for Stade Rennais who have now moved into the Ligue 1 top-six.

The home side started the game on a positive note in the 26th minute of the game as Gouiri benefitted off a deflected Arnaud Kalimuendo cross to score his third goal of the French league season. 

Gouiri remained a threat for Nantes and came close to scoring again before the end of the first half, but a deflected ball evaded his reach, with the visitors’ goalie Alban Lafont, well-beaten.

The home side kept their foot on the gas shortly before smoke from crowd flares clouded Steve Mandanda’s 18-yard box, temporarily putting Nantes’ already-starved frontline at a further disadvantage.

The smoke eventually cleared, but Nantes’ plans remained unclear, with the three man attack of Ludovic Blas, Moses Simon and Mostafa Mohamed failing to match their hosts firepower at the other end of the field.

Rennes continued to look threatening, and a quick break with 20 minutes to play saw the right flank open up, with Terrier picking up a pass and shooting inside the box, only for a yellow shirt to block his effort.

Eventually, they got their second as some quick interplay between Lesley Ugochukwu and Lovro Majer decimated the Nantes midfield lines, and left Gouiri latching on to the final pass, before sending it to Martin Terrier who fired past Lafont.

Rennes also had time for a third goal late on, and Desire Doue score what was a classic case of ‘save the best for last’. The 17-year-old found himself unmarked in the area to receive Terrier’s cross, and hit a peach of a half-volley into the far corner past Lafont.

While that put extra gloss on a seventh win in their last ten home head-to-heads against Nantes, the occasion was somewhat ruined by a straight red card for Joe Rodon, who denied a clear goalscoring opportunity for Nantes. 

Rennes, however, stood firm to seal a clean sheet sending Nantes deeper into the relegation zone.