Guingamp 0 : 1 Stade Rennais FC - Ntep effort enough for Rennes

Posted Sunday, November 23, 2014 by PA

Paul-Georges Ntep's first-half strike was enough for Rennes to eke out a 1-0 win at Guingamp and keep their hosts languishing in the bottom three.

Ntep pounced nine minutes before the break to tap home after Abdoulaye Doucoure's shot was kept out by a combination of Guingamp keeper Jonas Lossl and Lars Jacobsen only for it to fall into the 22-year-old's path.

Jocelyn Gourvennec's side had their chances but they were unable to get back into the game and Rennes are now up to sixth and have extended their impressive unbeaten run to seven matches.

Guingamp actually made most of the early running, with Younousse Sankhare firing just over after good work from Jeremy Pied and Sylvain Marveaux.

Shortly after Christophe Mandanne saw his shot just pushed away by Benoit Costil as the crowd at the Stade du Roudourou no doubt felt they were in for a good day.

It took Rennes 22 minutes to produce anything of note, with Ola Toivonen - on his return from injury - bursting into the area and forcing a good save from Lossl.

As the game entered a frenetic period, Claudio Beauvue had an immediate chance at the other end, but his shot sailed over to waste the good work that Pied put in.

Then Ntep reacted quickest in the box to provide the game's crucial moment in the 37th minute. It was harsh on Lossl, who did well to save with his feet at the near post, but was then out of the game as the former Auxerre man tapped into an empty net behind him.

Just after the hour mark, Lossl spared further problems for Guingamp when he did well to divert Toivonen's deft chip just wide of a post.

Former Blackburn defender Jacobsen missed a glorious opportunity for an equaliser after 70 minutes following a decent surge by Sylvain Marveaux, but failed to get it on target and Rennes held out for the win.