Rennes strike at death to claim derby draw

02 February 2013 18:47

Teenager Axel Ngando enjoyed a fairytale introduction to top-flight football on Saturday as his stoppage-time strike handed Rennes a share of the spoils in a 2-2 draw at Brittany rivals Lorient.

Lorient looked set to beat their more illustrious regional rivals for the second time this season when former Arsenal striker Jeremie Aliadiere put them 2-1 up with a stunning strike from 20 yards that arrowed into the top corner of the net.

But Ngando stabbed home a Jean II Makoun knockdown from close range a minute into injury time to earn Rennes a point that keeps them provisionally fourth, two points above Lorient in the table.

Ngando, 19, had replaced Romain Alessandrini with a minute to play and the goal came from his first touch in France's top flight.

It was a remarkable finish to a flowing encounter in which Lorient held a deserved half-time lead thanks to Yann Jouffre's strike just after the half-hour mark.

However, Turkish international Mevlut Erding missed two glorious chances to draw Rennes level before making it third time lucky when he rounded goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte to net after the home defence had failed to deal with a long ball forward.

Aliadiere's ninth of a productive campaign, with 10 minutes remaining, would have been a fitting winner until Ngando popped up.

On Friday, Paris Saint-Germain celebrated David Beckham's arrival in the French capital by romping to a 4-0 win at 10-man Toulouse to strengthen their position at the top of the table.

Javier Pastore, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Mamadou Sakho and Gregory van der Wiel were all on target at Le Stadium as Carlo Ancelotti's men moved three points clear of Lyon, who go to Ajaccio on Sunday.

Third-placed Marseille entertain bottom club Nancy on Sunday evening, while there are five matches to be played later on Saturday.

Bordeaux in fifth entertain Valenciennes, Nice in sixth go to Brest and Saint-Etienne travel to Sochaux.

Lille host struggling Troyes, while Bastia take on Evian.

Source: AFP