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Camavinga on the mark as Rennes collect first win

football29 August 2020 21:12| © AFP
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Eduardo Camavinga © Gallo Images

Rennes teenager Eduardo Camavinga celebrated his first France call-up with a terrific solo goal in Saturday's 2-1 victory at home to Montpellier in Ligue 1.

Camavinga, 17, was included this week in Didier Deschamps's squad for Nations League games against Sweden and Croatia next month as a replacement for Paul Pogba who has tested positive for Covid-19.

Julien Stephan's side will compete in the Champions League for the first time this season, and Angolan-born Camavinga has reiterated his commitment to the club despite reported interest from Real Madrid.

Damien Le Tallec inadvertently gave Rennes the lead when he flicked Raphinha's cross into his own net on 22 minutes, with the visitors reduced to 10 men before halftime as Florent Mollet was dismissed after catching the head of Faitout Maouassa with his studs.

Rennes hit the woodwork three times at Roazhon Park, twice through Adrien Hunou and again when Raphinha crashed a curling free-kick against the bar on the hour, with Montpellier's Arnaud Souquet hitting the upright at the other end.

The hosts saw Martin Terrier sent off with 15 minutes left for a late tackle on Gaetan Laborde but Camavinga soon added a second, effortlessly gliding into the area and shaking free of his defender with a wonderful shimmy before driving low into the far corner.

The masked Laborde, sporting protective headgear after breaking his nose in midweek, grabbed a consolation in stoppage time with a superb diving header but it could not deny Rennes a first win of the season.

"It's a well deserved victory but far too tight given the number of chances we had. The game should have been over at halftime," said Stephan.

Patrick Vieira's Nice made it two wins from as many matches as Denmark international Kasper Dolberg netted both goals in a 2-0 victory at Strasbourg.

Dolberg scored from the spot after a clumsy foul by Lamine Kone in the first half and then struck again on 59 minutes after latching onto Amine Gouiri's deflected ball through.

Lyon beat Dijon 4-1 in their first game of the campaign on Friday, while Marseille are due to visit Brest on Sunday after their planned opener against Saint-Etienne last week was postponed after several players tested positive for coronavirus.

Title holders Paris Saint-Germain's game at Lens initially scheduled for Saturday has been pushed back to 10 September following their run to Champions League final in Lisbon.

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