Rennes 1-2 Chelsea: Blues seal early qualification to Champions League last 16

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Edouard Mendy rises to palm away the ball
Goalkeeper Edouard Mendy had a good game for Chelsea against his former club

Chelsea sealed their progress to the Champions League knockout stage with two games to spare as Olivier Giroud’s late header secured victory at Rennes.

The French striker has played just 127 minutes for the Blues so far this season, but made the most of his time on the pitch here with an injury-time finish after Timo Werner’s effort had been blocked.

Just six minutes earlier, Rennes looked to have denied Chelsea when Serhou Guirassy headed home from a corner to cancel out Callum Hudson-Odoi’s opener.

Frank Lampard’s side dominated the first half and could easily have led by more than just Hudson-Odoi’s calm finish after he had been sent clear by a pinpoint pass from Mason Mount.

They invited the home side on in the second half and had to rely on a defence that included the returning Thiago Silva and goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, who made a couple of good saves against his former club.

A late winner for Sevilla means both they and the Blues have 10 points in Group E, nine more than both Rennes and Krasnodar.

More to follow.

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Rennes

Starting XI

  1. Squad number16Player nameGomis

    Average rating

    6.07

  2. Squad number27Player nameTraoré

    Average rating

    5.99

  3. Squad number3Player nameDa Silva

    Average rating

    5.86

  4. Squad number4Player nameNyamsi

    Average rating

    5.59

  5. Squad number31Player nameTruffert

    Average rating

    5.84

  6. Squad number10Player nameCamavinga

    Average rating

    6.48

  7. Squad number15Player nameNzonzi

    Average rating

    6.07

  8. Squad number14Player nameBourigeaud

    Average rating

    6.18

  9. Squad number18Player nameDoku

    Average rating

    6.23

  10. Squad number9Player nameGuirassy

    Average rating

    6.20

  11. Squad number12Player nameLea Siliki

    Average rating

    5.71

Substitutes

  1. Squad number8Player nameGrenier

    Average rating

    6.08

  2. Squad number11Player nameNiang

    Average rating

    6.18

  3. Squad number17Player nameFaitout Maouassa

    Average rating

    5.97

  4. Squad number19Player nameGboho

    Average rating

    5.87

  5. Squad number22Player nameDel Castillo

    Average rating

    5.93

Chelsea

Starting XI

  1. Squad number16Player nameMendy

    Average rating

    7.74

  2. Squad number28Player nameAzpilicueta

    Average rating

    6.59

  3. Squad number15Player nameZouma

    Average rating

    6.73

  4. Squad number6Player nameThiago Silva

    Average rating

    7.11

  5. Squad number21Player nameChilwell

    Average rating

    6.52

  6. Squad number17Player nameKovacic

    Average rating

    6.42

  7. Squad number5Player nameJorginho

    Average rating

    6.05

  8. Squad number19Player nameMount

    Average rating

    7.19

  9. Squad number20Player nameHudson-Odoi

    Average rating

    7.37

  10. Squad number9Player nameAbraham

    Average rating

    6.67

  11. Squad number11Player nameWerner

    Average rating

    6.21

Substitutes

  1. Squad number7Player nameKanté

    Average rating

    7.40

  2. Squad number18Player nameGiroud

    Average rating

    8.40

  3. Squad number22Player nameZiyech

    Average rating

    7.53

  4. Squad number24Player nameJames

    Average rating

    6.59

  5. Squad number29Player nameHavertz

    Average rating

    6.66

Line-ups

Rennes

  • 16Gomis
  • 27Traoré
  • 3Da Silva
  • 4Nyamsi
  • 31TruffertSubstituted forMaouassaat 86′minutes
  • 10CamavingaSubstituted forGrenierat 78′minutesBooked at 87mins
  • 15Nzonzi
  • 14BourigeaudBooked at 90mins
  • 18DokuSubstituted forGbohoat 86′minutes
  • 9GuirassySubstituted forNiangat 86′minutes
  • 12Lea SilikiSubstituted forDel Castilloat 63′minutes

Substitutes

  • 1Salin
  • 8Grenier
  • 11Niang
  • 17Maouassa
  • 19Gboho
  • 20Tait
  • 22Del Castillo
  • 23Hunou
  • 32Assignon
  • 34Soppy
  • 35Rutter
  • 38Omari

Chelsea

  • 16Mendy
  • 28Azpilicueta
  • 15Zouma
  • 6Thiago Silva
  • 21Chilwell
  • 17KovacicSubstituted forHavertzat 76′minutes
  • 5Jorginho
  • 19MountSubstituted forKantéat 68′minutes
  • 20Hudson-OdoiSubstituted forZiyechat 75′minutes
  • 9AbrahamSubstituted forGiroudat 69′minutes
  • 11WernerSubstituted forJamesat 90+2′minutes

Substitutes

  • 1Arrizabalaga
  • 2Rüdiger
  • 3Alonso
  • 4Christensen
  • 7Kanté
  • 13Caballero
  • 14Tomori
  • 18Giroud
  • 22Ziyech
  • 24James
  • 29Havertz
  • 33Emerson

Referee:
Björn Kuipers

Match Stats

Live Text

  1. Match ends, Rennes 1, Chelsea 2.

  2. Second Half ends, Rennes 1, Chelsea 2.

  3. Benjamin Bourigeaud (Rennes) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

  4. Foul by Benjamin Bourigeaud (Rennes).

  5. Kurt Zouma (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  6. Substitution, Chelsea. Reece James replaces Timo Werner.

  7. Goal! Rennes 1, Chelsea 2. Olivier Giroud (Chelsea) header from the centre of the box to the top left corner.

  8. Attempt saved. Timo Werner (Chelsea) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Hakim Ziyech.

  9. Attempt saved. Ben Chilwell (Chelsea) header from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Hakim Ziyech.

  10. Clément Grenier (Rennes) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

  11. Foul by Clément Grenier (Rennes).

  12. N’Golo Kanté (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

  13. Substitution, Rennes. Yann Gboho replaces Jéremy Doku.

  14. Substitution, Rennes. Faitout Maouassa replaces Adrien Truffert.

  15. Substitution, Rennes. M’Baye Niang replaces Serhou Guirassy.

  16. Goal! Rennes 1, Chelsea 1. Serhou Guirassy (Rennes) header from the centre of the box to the high centre of the goal. Assisted by Benjamin Bourigeaud with a cross following a corner.

  17. Corner, Rennes. Conceded by Thiago Silva.

  18. Substitution, Rennes. Clément Grenier replaces Eduardo Camavinga.

  19. Foul by Benjamin Bourigeaud (Rennes).

  20. Thiago Silva (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

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