AS Monaco overcame a strong Rennes side and a goalless first half in order to leave Brittany victorious, despite the numerical disadvantage of the Monegasques in the latter half of the match on Saturday, December 9.
The Principality side came close to opening the scoring on a number of occasions in the first 45 minutes, but Rennes temporarily managed to keep their visitors at bay.
Vanderson opened the scoring for Monaco with a firm strike, having been found by a calm and collected Folarin Balogun at the 51st minute.
However, Vanderson was sent off with a red card which immediately followed a second yellow card after the Brazilian right-back found himself in a spot of hot water, reducing the Monaco team to 10 men at the 75th minute.
Fortunately Balogun was on hand again to provide another assist, this time for Youssouf Fofana on a lightning quick counterattack to make it 0-2 for Monaco at the 85th minute.
Rennes managed to pull one back with a successfully converted penalty courtesy of Benjamin Bourigeaud at the 90th minute, but this was not enough to beat the ‘rouge et blanc’ visitors as the match concluded with a 1-2 scoreline.
This win is the 300th since the arrival of the club’s long serving President Dmitry Rybolovlev in December 2011, an extra joyous victory for the Monegasques, and one which provisionally brings them back up to second place in the Ligue 1 table.
The next fixture will see Monaco take on a struggling Lyonnais side on the evening of Friday, December 15.
Featured image courtesy of AS Monaco
