A battling draw [1-1]

For half an hour, but it seemed like much longer, the Girondins threw everything they had at the Rennes defence. Trailing by a goal to nil since Laborde's 56th-minute shot, Bordeaux continued to pile the pressure on Rennes. From one of the last corners of the match, Samuel Kalu pounced. The ball ricocheted and ended up at the feet of Hwang Ui-Jo, who pulled it back for Mexer to strike with his left foot. Deflection. Gomis was beaten. The stadium erupted (1-1, 88').

The home fans roared with a mixture of joy, relief and sheer happiness to see the battling Girondins rewarded for their efforts. Throughout the first hour of play it was Rennes who dominated proceedings, and had it not been for Benoît Costil the scoreline might have looked very different. The keeper produced a fine string of saves to deny Martin (7’), Traoré (10’, 41’), Laborde (20’), Terrier (24’, 29’ and 73’), Sulemana (28’) and Meling (62’). He also came within a whisker of providing a rare assist when he came off his line to clear the ball from the path of Laborde, picking out Hwang Ui-Jo who was just pipped by a Rennes defender (65’).

But Benoît didn't do it all on his own. While Rennes may have been profligate in front of goal, a lot of those missed chances were down to the defensive grit of the Girondins. For long spells of this game it was every man back in defence, and it took a massive collective effort to plug up all the gaps created by Rennes' attractive attacking style. Substitutions also played a major role, with Vladimir Petkovic's second-half changes helping Bordeaux to find more oxygen in attack. Timothée Pembélé had a decent chance (52’), and Hwang Ui-Jo (78’) fired into the side netting from a corner. Then Mexer got the late equaliser, and Bordeaux weathered one more huge chance for Tait (90’+2) before the final whistle.

Dominated and run ragged for much of this game, Bordeaux held tight and never gave up. Thanks to a fine display of collective commitment, a goalkeeper on top form and some timely substitutions, the Girondins were able to take a valuable point. They will be hoping to build on this positive run of form (one win and two draws) as they prepare to face Monaco next weekend.