Ligue 1 wrap: Rennes debutant denies Lorient

French teenager Axel Ngando has scored with his first touch in Ligue 1 to earn Rennes a 2-2 draw with Lorient in the Derby de la Bretagne.

The 19-year-old attacking midfielder scored within seconds of coming off the bench to deny Lorient victory on their own turf after Jeremie Aliadiere’s stunning 80th-minute goal looked to have secured three points for the home side.

Lorient dominated Saturday’s clash with 55 percent possession and 17 shots to 10 and should have taken the lead in the 28th minute.

Yann Jouffre’s pass split Rennes’ defence but Kevin Monnet-Paquet’s shot was saved by Benoit Costil.

Jouffre’s thunderous follow-up struck his Lorient teammate Aliadiere with Costil still on the ground before Maxime Barthelme curled his effort just wide of the top corner.

But Lorient broke through just three minutes later when Barthelme’s cross to Aliadiere caused problems in Rennes’ penalty area and Jouffre pounced to thump the ball home.

Things got worse for Rennes nine minutes after the break when their head coach Frederic Antonetti was banished from the bench but they did not crumble.

Just one minute later, Rennes striker Mevlut Erdinc took advantage of a poor attempted header from Lorient defender Lamine Kone by rounding the goalkeeper and score from his third one-on-one opportunity of the game.

Lorient looked to have wrapped up the match with 10 minutes remaining after Aliadiere drove through the middle of pitch and hit a ferocious shot into the top left-hand corner of Costil’s net.

But the visitors took a share of the points through Ngando, who got on the end of Alou Diarra’s flick-on to score in second-half injury time in his debut appearance for Rennes.

The result leaves Rennes one spot ahead of eighth-placed Lorient in the Ligue 1 standings with two points separating the two clubs from France’s north-west.

Saint-Etienne claimed their fifth-straight win in all competitions and third in a row in Ligue 1, knocking off Sochaux 2-1 thanks to Fabien Lemoine’s deflected strike.

In driving snow at Sochaux’s Stade Auguste-Bonal, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gave Saint-Etienne the lead with a cracking half-volley in the 23rd minute.

Sochaux substitute Edouard Butin equalised in the 72nd minute but Lemoine scored the winner just five minutes later when his shot deflected off an opponent to fly into the bottom corner of the net, Saint-Etienne holding on despite Aubameyang missing a penalty soon after.

Nice claimed their first win in three games in all competitions with a 2-0 triumph away to Brest, while their main rivals for a Europa League spot, Bordeaux, defeated Valenciennes by the same scoreline.

In other Ligue 1 results, Lille drew 1-1 with Troyes, while Evian and Bastia played out a scoreless draw.