Ten-man Arsenal well beaten by Rennes with Europa League campaign now on the brink

Rennes 3-1 Arsenal: Ten-men Arsenal slipped to a shock defeat in France that leaves them with a mountain to climb at the Emirates next week

Arsenal have it all to do next week (Reuters)

Less than 24 hours after one great English club relived its former European glories, another playing 350km west of Paris was served with a reminder of their current low standing on the continent.

Rennes had never progressed this far in a European competition before. Arsenal, you sense, would rather not be in this competition at all and after this 3-1 defeat in Brittany, they may not be for much longer.

When Unai Emery’s side took an early lead through Alex Iwobi, it appeared as though this would be a routine victory setting up safe passage to the Europa League quarter-finals. But Sokratis Papastathopoulos first-half sending off for two bookable offence changed all that.

The excellent Benjamin Bourigeaud scored from the free-kick that followed. A relentless spell of Rennes pressure at the start of the second half then resulted in a Nacho Monreal own goal and the impressive Ismaila Sarr added a third late on.

This was arguably the greatest occasion in Rennes’ 118-year history. Some 90,000 applications were made for the final 8,000 tickets, many supporters camped out overnight to secure them and those lucky few who claimed one arrived early to make a tremendous din.

But the boisterous crowd would suddenly fall quiet three minutes after the kick-off. Iwobi did not appear to expect that his low cross-cum-shot would deflect in off the far post, but the ball bounced awkwardly in the six-yard box and spun out of goalkeeper Tomas Koubek’s reach.

In these early stages, Arsenal appeared a cut above this mid-table Ligue Un outfit. Not long after the opener, Iwobi found space inside the penalty area again. He cut a square pass to Lucas Torreira, whose effort forced a diving save out of Koubek.

Rennes, by contrast, were overcome by it all. Brief spells of frantic pressure petered out. Any vaguely positive moment in possession was soon followed by a stray pass. This, it seemed, should be a comfortable evening for Arsenal.

Then came Sokratis. The centre-half earned his first clumsy yellow card for essentially kicking Adrien Hunou’s rear end after being blocked from taking the ball. The second was just as careless.

When Hatem Ben Arfa slipped Sarr through down the left flank, Sokratis yanked on the winger’s shirt. It was a blatantly cynical foul, a foolish one to commit when already cautioned, and it left referee Ivan Kruzliak no choice but to reduce Arsenal to 10 men.

The side-effects of Sokratis’ dismissal were immediate. Bourigeaud struck the subsequent free-kick tamely and against the wall. His follow-up on the rebound was hit far sweeter, straight and true into the top right-hand corner past a helpless Petr Cech.

Benjamin Bourigeaud scored a fine leveller (AFP/Getty)

Through the previously muted Bourigeaud and Sarr, Rennes suddenly came to life. The pair combined in stoppage time at the end of the first half, with Sarr shanking a close-range finish wide, and then re-emerged after the break with the same energy and intensity.

One Sarr burst past Monreal down the right ended with Bourigeaud shooting at Cech. Another saw the ball just evade Rennes’ goalscorer when an accurate cross would have produced a tap-in. No matter. Rennes were cutting through Arsenal with ease.

Their second seemed only a matter of time and when it finally arrived, it came with a slice of fortune. Mehdi Zeffane’s cross would have been unsuccessful but for a deflection off Nacho Monreal, which helped loop the ball past Cech and in at the far post.

Arsenal needed a response. Their play began to take on an air of urgency that could be mistaken for desperation. After another ineffective showing, Mesut Ozil was hooked and Aaron Ramsey was introduced, but it would not be enough to salvage this first leg.

Ismaïla Sarr scored a potentially decisive third (Getty)

Rennes were the comfortable ones now and would give themselves real hope of progression by adding a third. After breaking down another fruitless Arsenal attack, they countered and James Lea Siliki’s deep searching cross found Sarr at the far post.

The winger’s emphatic header crowned an impressive performance and ensured of a deserved Arsenal defeat.