Dominant Sevilla earn narrow win over Rennes despite glut of chances
Sevilla beat Stade Rennais 1-0.
SEVILLE (Reuters) - Sevilla picked up their first Champions League win of the season with a 1-0 victory over Stade Rennais after outclassing the French side but managing to convert only one of the numerous clear chances they carved out.
Dutch forward Luuk de Jong broke the deadlock in the 55th minute, after Sevilla had dominated the first half, when he raced to meet a cross from Marcos Acuna and found the net with a sidefooted volley.
Julen Lopetegui’s Europa League holders had a total of 22 shots on goal to the visitors’ two, hitting the target nine times and seeing Joan Jordan rattle the crossbar in the second half.
Rennes goalkeeper Alfred Gomis was also on form, parrying a header from De Jong in the second half, an early strike from Lucas Ocampos and tipping a vicious volley from Munir El Haddadi on to the crossbar.
While there was a sense of disbelief that Sevilla could not score more, there was also relief at earning a first win in five matches in all competitions after suffering shock defeats to Eibar and Granada in their last two La Liga outings.
“We had a lot of good chances in the first half but this is football, you can’t score all the time,” said De Jong.
“We’ve made a good start in the Champions League, we always want to win but it’s not easy and you have to always play at 100% if you want to win. But if we keep playing like today anything is possible.”
The Spaniards are second in Group E with four points after two games, level with first-placed Chelsea, while Rennes have one point.
