An hour before kick off anticipation was building in the Route de Lorient and in the Twittersphere. The fans were sending in all sorts of photographs to the club's official Twitter page from where they would be witnessing another huge match in the history of Stade Rennais Football Club. Those who weren't fortunate enough to attend joined in with the picture taking, capturing the view they had of their screen to look the game. 

One man in particular had a cast around his leg, using that as a placeholder for a tablet, showing the game. Another, had his set-up on show, sitting in what appeared to be his garden, an official flag working as a table cloth for his bottle of beer. The fans were getting right in the mood.

Rennes came up against 2nd tier outfit, SCO Angers in the semi-final of the Coupe de France. Rennes have had previous experience of French Cup finals, winning it twice in 1965 and 1971 but in terms of winning the trophy since then, Rennes have always been second best. Angers had their experience of cup final action too in 1957, unfortunately resulting in defeat. 

Rennes lined up with a clear attacking 4-4-3 formation, trying to use their high attacking players to their full advantage against the lower league side, whereas Angers lined up with a more structured 4-4-2 formation. 

Both teams entered to an almost full house in the Route de Lorient, the away fans sold out their entire allocation. The Rennes ultras, 'Roazhon Celtic Kop' had their display on show. There were cards placed on the upper tier reading out '1901', the year the club is formed and with a red background. There was a message banner below that stretched the near enough whole length of the stand and into the lower tier. The banner's message read, 'Redonnez Espoir Au Peuple Rouge Et Noir' which translates roughly to, 'Breathe hope to the people in Red and Black'. 

The game kicked off to a loud roar from both sets of fans, Rennes' (attacking towards the  goal on the right) clear attacking plan showed within the first 30 seconds, winning a corner on the near side which was eventually cleared by the Angers defence. Rennes kept possession and kept the onslaught on their opponent goal up to a high tempo.

However, a clear tactic of Angers was to counter-attack on the break. This idea worked immediately as their first attempt ended up in a goal during the third minute of the game. A mistake by Rennes left-back Cheikh Mbengue opened up a clear chance for a cut-back which was taken with great force by striker, Mohamed Yattara. The noise that graced the stadium was more silent, Rennes themselves shocked at what had just happened to them with the lower league team going in front so early. Angers took advantage of the shock to the team and the crowd and played on it. Angers were comfortable for a period of time, they passed the ball, they retained possession and had a few more chances to mull over. 

The gameplan looked as if it had switched with Angers now doing the attacking and Rennes being the team on the counter-attack. Strangely enough, a counter-attack by Rennes forced Angers centre-back, Henin to make a blunder whilst trying to block a cross from Alessandrini, forcing his keeper into a save which was parried out to Rennes striker, Ola Toivonen who had the easy job of finding the net with the open goal in front of him. Rennes were now back in the game after some dominance by their opponents. The fans returned to their loud state which was impressive before going a goal down.

Angers were now pushed to their limits and were constantly defending with little attack of their own, the emotions were now running high with Rennes players. The fans chanting gave them an extra yard of pace and desire. Angers couldn't keep up with the tempo of Rennes. This resulted in a few injuries which disrupted the flow of the game. It could be argued that Angers done this to get themselves a short-term rest. Two substitues were made right away for Angers, one due to injury and the other was a straight swap in positions. Off came striker, Ayari and on came Socrier and a change on the left side of midfield saw Ben Otham come off Gamboa
These changes were not enough to keep Rennes out; ten minutes after the changes were made, midfielder Doucoure placed a lovely pass through to Polish winger Kamil Grosicki who then beat two defenders and the goalkeeper to score the next goal of the game and put the home side 2-1 up. A sigh of relief came over the entire Rennes representatives- fans, players and staff alike- ever wary that a goal lead could always be taken away from them. 

Angers eventually gave up their original possession gameplan and resorted to a high ball game into the strikers. After a few tries, a mistake by Rennes captain Romain Danze left a gap open but the cross was hit out for a corner. The following corner resulted in a scramble in the box forcing goalkeeper, Benoit Costil into an impressive double save. The referee added two minutes of additional time part of which was used to substitute Danze as he was holding his hamstring. He was replaced by Moreira.

The second half started with a freekick to Angers, 30 yards from goal. This freekick shocked the crown as it clipped the top of the bar. This was only a momentary shock to Rennes as a counter-attack by the home side saw Doucoure become assister again placing a pass to Jean Mackoun who curled the ball into the net from outside the box, Yaya Toure esque. Goal tune, 'Just Can't Get Enough' rang round the stadium once again- everyone dancing to the famous 80s pop track by Depeche Mode.

There were several instances during the second half that the side netting of the goal was hit forcing both fans into a false cheer, thinking they had scored, more notably Kamil Grosicki's thunderbolt that appeared to have hit the net from the television angle. Ola Toivonen had the best chance of the half when a cut-back was played through to him, staring at an open goal, the Swede opened up his boot on the shot forcing the ball to way over the bar.
Both teams began making changes with goalscorer, Kamil Grosicki coming off for Paul-Georges Ntep who scored from an almost impossible angle in the derby against Nantes a few weeks ago. Angers made their final substitute of the game when Eudeline came off for Boufal. Finally, Rennes made their last change of the game with Sylvain Armand replacing Toivonen to tighten up at the back and keep the lead they had.

As the game was approaching the final minutes of normal time a shot from just outside the Rennes penalty box hit the arm of defender, Kana-Biyik earning Angers a penalty and a way back into the game. Mohamed Yattara scored like he did early in the game it was now 3-2 with few minutes to spare. Unfortunately for Angers the search for the third goal was not successful as Rennes kept the ball away from their goal and as the last few minutes of injury time went by the home support were ready for the celebrations that would follow the whistle. 

The whistle eventually blew signalling the end of the game, Rennes were through to the final of the Coupe de France to meet either Monaco or Guingamp. Fans ran onto the field to meet their heroes and to congratulate them on their achievement. The players made a swift exist up the tunnel as more fans entered the field. A group of security made a guard near the tunnel but the gap between them got more narrower as time went on. Some players made their way back out, chants were started on the microphone by them, the faithful fans joining in, bouncing up and down with red smoke bombs filling the air. It was an amazing site to see. This was the type of player and fan reaction that is unseen in the UK. Social media imploded after the whistle went, the jublilation shown, everyone ecstatic that their team had made the final. 

Who will join Rennes in that final didn't matter one jot. Everyone was just happy to be there, another trip to Paris, to the Stade de France, 3rd of May. One thing is for sure the whole stadium will be a sea of red.

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About the author
Connor Gordon
Hi, I am from Glasgow, Scotland and at university studying Multimedia Journalism. I have a fondness for French club, Stade Rennais. I try to convey the way I see the game of football into my articles. I hope you enjoy! Contact me on Twitter: @ConnorGordonnn Email: [email protected]