Stade Rennais progressed to the quarter finals of the French Coupe de la Ligue after narrowly defeating SC Bastia.
Rennes midfielder, Abdoulaye Doucoure, scored the vital goal on 59 minutes with the visitors rarely troubled by their opponents.
Both teams made changes to their sides for what is usually a fiery fixture. In the last four games, there had been five red cards dished out. Ex-Bastia striker, turned Rennes hit-man, Giovanni Sio was suspended for the match so in came on-loan Chelsea attacker, Jeremie Boga who started up top. Floyd Ayite, scorer against Rennes on day 1 of the league, only made the bench for Bastia.
Great start for Rennes faded out
Rennes started positively from kick-off as they passed the ball around the pitch with ease - Barcelona-esque their fans later remarked. The first chance came to the Bretons with Doucoure played through inside the box. Unfortunately for the midfielder, his shot had no conviction and was stopped by Jesper Hansen between the Bastia sticks.
In another dangerous attack, Kamil Grosicki was pulling the strings again on the offensive front as he skipped by two Bastia players to cross into Boga in the centre of the box. However, the Bastia defence comfortably intercepted and cleared any hope for the makeshift striker.
It took a while before Bastia had a sniff of goal. Florian Raspentino had been largely isolated up front for the Corsicans, but he had to act smartly to receive a driven ball across the box. The Frenchman managed to win a corner out of the situation.
Only goal of the match comes in the second half
The second half started with three defenders trying their hand at shooting. Romain Danze, Pedro Mendes and Mehdi Zeffane all attempted similar efforts from distance which received the same outcome - a goal kick. The latter man's shot got a sarcastic cheer from the home crowd as their team wasn't troubled by any shot.
They were soon to have egg on their face when Rennes eventually went ahead through Doucoure on 59 minutes. Following quick passing play, the overlapping Danze passed to Doucoure who was in the centre of the box, the scorer opened his foot on the ball to place it in the far left corner.
Much talk before and during the game was how Jeremie Boga was going to cope as the lone striker. The 5'6 attacking midfielder didn't shine as a lone striker but did have a few promising runs. One shot he did have which make the keeper worry was when he manufactured enough space outside the box to hit a powerful strike which Hansen saved with his legs.
Rennes should have doubled their lead had the offside flag not have been raised against the scorer, Zeffane. Another example of fine team passing ended with Zeffane curling the ball into the bottom right corner of the net. Unfortunately for the scorer, the linesman's flag denied him his first cup goal. Replays showed that Zeffane was at least a yard onside.
The win for Rennes was the first in Stade Armand Cesari since 2013. Whilst for Bastia, this defeat was just another one to add to the poor results the Corsicans have had this season. In league action, they will host SM Caen, while Rennes are also on welcoming duties at home to PSG.