Midfielder Fabien Lemoine proved the unlikely hero for Stade Rennais on Saturday as he marked his return four months after having a kidney removed by setting up the winning goal in a 1-0 success over Valenciennes.
Lemoine came on as a late substitute to a standing ovation from his home crowd with minutes to go and delivered the corner that perfectly found the head of Jean-Armel Kana-Biyak to secure a victory three minutes into stoppage-time.
The victory moves Rennes into third place in Ligue 1, equal on 31 points with leaders Lille and Paris Saint-Germain, who were held 2-2 at Parc des Princes by Monaco.
PHOTO: AFP
The 23-year-old Lemoine was forced to have his kidney removed in September after it was split following a heavy blow to his side during a league game.
“It’s one of the greatest days of my life,” Lemoine said.
PSG slipped up in their bid to go provisionally top after a late goal from Monaco’s Daniel Niculae ensured a 2-2 stalemate at a snowy Parc des Princes.
The hosts had looked on their way to victory when a double from Brazilian forward Nene either side of the break pulled them ahead after Sebastien Puygrenier had opened for the Principality side after 31 minutes, but Romanian striker Niculae leveled two minutes from time to leave PSG level on points with Lille.
Saint-Etienne moved up to fifth with a 2-0 win over Arles-Avignon, with Toulouse rising four places to eighth after a 3-0 success over Lorient. Montpellier were held 1-1 by Auxerre, while Stade Brestois 29 came away with a 1-1 draw from Nice. Lens’ match against Stade Malherbe Caen was pushed back 24 hours because of bad weather.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
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