Lepaul delivers as Rennes beat Strasbourg 3-0, Fofana misses big chance | OneFootball

Estéban Lepaul scored and then assisted as Rennes swept past Strasbourg 3-0 on Sunday, reinforcing his status as Ligue 1’s outright top scorer.

L'Équipe noted contrasting displays, with Lepaul influential and Datro Fofana wasteful. Inside nine minutes Fofana rounded Samba but Abdelhamid Aït-Boudlal cleared off the line.

Mousa Al-Tamari forced Mike Penders into three first-half saves at 12, 19 and 30 minutes. After a poor pass by Penders, Lepaul drilled in a low cross-shot on 20 minutes, his 17th league goal and his eighth in four meetings with Strasbourg.

After the interval, Lepaul headed across for Breel Embolo to make it 2-0 on 50 minutes. Two minutes later Al-Tamari finished from Ludovic Blas’s pass, with Lepaul involved in the build-up.

Aït-Boudlal impressed on his third successive start on the right of central defence, recording seven clearances, four interceptions and four recoveries.

For Strasbourg, Fofana, on loan from Chelsea, endured a difficult return after nearly a month out, isolated with eight touches and one duel won, and replaced at half-time by Martial Godo. Godo struck the post on 61 minutes.

Lucas Högsberg, starting for the first time since Nantes on 22 March, struggled on the left of the pairing and was involved in all three goals conceded. He was beaten by Lepaul for the opener, failed to track Embolo for the second and could not get in front of Lepaul before the third.

More than two and a half months after his last league outing, Rafael Luis had a tough evening on the left of the defence, losing 12 balls and winning less than a third of his duels. He also let Embolo go for the second goal.

Source: L'Équipe