Rennes 1-0 Marseille Player Ratings: 10-man Rennes Clinch Full Three Points Against Robert de Zerbi's Marseille

Stade Rennes started their Ligue 1 campaign with a stunning victory as they defeated Robert de Zerbi's Marseille 1-0 despite being a man down for most of the game. Rennes looked solid in attack and very well handled the pressure that de Zerbi's men put into. In the end substitute Ludovic Blas's winner in stoppage time helped them clinch full three points.

The first half began with both sides cautiously probing each other as they kicked off a fresh Ligue 1 campaign. Around the 15-minute mark, Rennes started to find pockets of space in the Marseille defence, with Mohamed Meite making a couple of promising runs—only to be flagged offside each time. The game settled into a stop-start rhythm, punctuated by tough tackles and frequent fouls. One such challenge, around the 31st minute, proved decisive: debutant Ait Boudlal was shown a straight red card for a late tackle on Marseille’s Amir Murillo.

Initially, the referee booked another Rennes player, but after consulting the pitchside monitor, he rescinded the yellow and sent Boudlal off instead. Despite being reduced to 10 men, Rennes remained lively. Tamari did well to control a long ball, forcing a sharp save from the Marseille goalkeeper, before Valentin Rongier’s rebound effort was also kept out by Geronimo Rulli. In stoppage time, Adrien Rabiot came agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock with a curling shot from outside the box, but the ball struck the post, ensuring the sides went into the break still level.

Marseille came out firing after the restart, piling relentless pressure on Rennes and quickly establishing themselves as the dominant side. Amine Gouiri went closest early on, but his header struck the post — the second time in the match the woodwork had denied a goal. Rennes, reduced to rare counterattacks, found a glimmer of hope when Mousa Tamari broke forward, only for Geronimo Rulli to stand tall and keep his side in contention. While Marseille continued to control possession, Rennes gradually grew into the game and began carving out the better chances as the clock ticked down. The decisive moment came deep into stoppage time. Former Marseille left-back Quentin Merlin delivered a precise pass to substitute Ludovic Blas, who calmly slotted his shot into the back of the net, sealing a dramatic late winner. The strike earned Rennes a crucial three points and left Marseille stunned at the death.

Let's have a look at Rennes vs Marseille player ratings.

Rennes Player Ratings

Here are the Rennes' player ratings vs Marseille:

Goalkeeper

Brice Samba – 8.2/10

The goalkeeper showed great resilience to keep his team in the game as he put his body on the line a number of time. He made four key saves to keep his clean sheet.

Defenders

Anthony Rouault – 7.0/10

The defender did win a number of duels and was involved in eight clearances as his team notched a victory despite being a man down for most of the game.

Abdelhamid Ait Boudlal – 5.3/10

The 19-year-old debutant was sent off around the 31st minute of the game after a late tackle on Amir Murillo.

Jeremy Jacquet – 7.8/10

The 20-year-old defender held strong and helped his teammates a lot to absorb the pressure from the opposition and keep them at bay.

Midfielders

Przemyslaw Frankowski – 7.0/10

The Polish international did well as he put good long balls for Tamari to chase.

Fabian Rieder – 7.0/10

The Swiss international did well as he controlled a lot of the midfield to maintain his team's shape as they were a man down from the 31st minute.

Seko Fofana – 7.4/10

The Ivorian international had a good game, marking the Marseille midfielders as his team held on to the shape and eventually went on to take full three points in the opener.

Valentin Rongier - 6.6/10

He was the most accurate passer in the game and launched various counterattacks in the second half.

Quentin Merlin – 7.6/10

The player put on a lot of workload as he ran up and down the pitch to support the team in both departments. He assisted the winner for his team.

Attackers

Mousa Tamari – 6.5/10

Had some good opportunities to make a mark in this game but he squandered them. He went one-on-one with the goalkeeper once but was not able to put the ball into the net.

Mohamed Meite- 6.3/10

The striker looked pretty bright during his time on the pitch as he led couple of good attacks, bringing the opposition goalkeeper in action

Substitutes

Christopher Wooh – 6.7/10

He came on to replace 17-year-old French striker Mohamed Meite to pluck the defensive hole that was created with the red card.

Mahdi Camara – 6.4/10

The 26-year-old French international came on to replace midfielder Fabian Rieder around the 64th minute of the game.

Ludovic Blas - N/A

Came on as a substitute and turned the game in his team's favour, scoring the winner for his side.

Mahamadou Nagida - N/A

Ibrahim Salah - N/A

Manager

Habib Beye - 7/10

He would be the happiest as his team claimed a memorable victory despite being a man down. His team worked very hard maintaining the shape and absorbing all the pressure that de Zerbi's team came with.

Marseille Player Ratings

Here are the Marseille player ratings vs Rennes:

Goalkeeper

Geronimo Rulli- 7.1/10

He made a number of good saves as Rennes came charging duringt the counter-attacks.

Defenders

Leonardo Balerdi- 7.6/10

The skipper did well at the heart of the defence. He rarely misplaced any ball and also was involved up front during the corners. One of his headers pulled the goalkeeper into action.

Egan-Riley – 7.4/10

The English defender did well and was strong for most of the game. He maintained a passing accuracy of 89% and recovered three balls for his side. He was also involved in a couple of crucial clearances for Marseille.

Geoffrey Kondogbia – 6.7/10

He was a bit nervous at the start of the game, but as the game progressed, he became calm and handled the situation beautifully. He made four clearances and maintained 92 percent passing accuracy.

Midfielders

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg - 7.5/10

The Danish defensive midfielder orchestrated the game well as he was fully charge of moving the ball as the attackers took their respective positions.

Angel Gomes- 7.6/10

Another holding midfielder did well as he helped the other players to circulate the ball well and maintain pressure on Rennes.

Amir Murillo- 7.3/10

The 29-year-old wing back had a good game on the left side of the pitch as he kept the defenders busy with his key positioning and awkward runs.

Mason Greenwood- 7.3/10

Former Manchester United winger made a couple of good runs and was very active on the right-hand side of the pitch.

Jonathan Rowe- 6.6/10

On the attacking front he did well building multiple number of attacks but at time he lacked the ability to find the winger on the flank. He had four shot in the game that were off target.

Adrien Rabiot - 7.3/10

The midfielder had a good game controlling the middle of the park. He became pro-active after the red-card moment as he had a shot almost ended up on the back of the net despite hitting the cross bar.

Attackers

Amine Gouiri - 6.9/10

His positioning was good but missed some good opportunities and it is something that the manager would be furious about.

Substitute

Timothy Weah -6.9/10

The USMNT player came on to replace Kondogbia and with his introduction, de Zerbi's team took a more attacking stance.

Pierre Aubameyang - 5.8/10

He came on to replace Rowe around the 60th minute of the game.

Ulisses Garcia - 6.2/10

The left-back came on to replace Amir Murillo around the 78th minute of the game.

Darryl Bakola - N/A.

Robinio Vaz - N/A.

Manager

Roberto de Zerbi – 6.2/10

He would be disappointed with the performance that his team has put out despite playing with a player extra. His organisation was good but there were some 50-50 chances in front of goal; if those had got in, his side would have ended the game with a comfortable 1-2 lead.

Sportsdunia Player Of The Match: Brice Samba

As the Rennes vs Marseille player ratings suggest, the match was a spectacle to watch as Habib Beye's side staged a turnaround despite being 10 men for most of the game. Ludovic Blas, the super-sub in the game, will definitely be one of the players that the opposition will keep track of in the coming games to avoid such an upset that Marseille went through.