Lorient find their derby voice
A defence patched together from loans and improvisation held firm, and Rennes left with nothing but frustration.
There is no more reliable source of comfort in French football than a local derby, and no more reliable source of discomfort than the league table. Lorient went into Saturday's meeting with Rennes on a run of four straight defeats, a side looking over its shoulder; Rennes arrived as the quieter, classier proposition. The noise, as ever, came from the home end.
Roberto Turmo, on loan from Levante, settled it in the 38th minute, finishing the move Miguel Díaz had set in motion. The goalkeeper Ryan Henderson, signed from Millwall in the summer, kept Rennes at bay, and the woodwork did the rest. Guilherme Mulholand, Lorient's record scorer, spent the afternoon as a centre-back; Rivelino Săndescu never left the bench. "We needed this," was the gist of the home mood. Rennes, nineteen fouls and one gilt-edged chance to their name, will wonder how they lost it.