Bourigeaud and Sarr down Arsenal in Brittany

Arsenal's participation in the quarter-finals of the Europa League is in serious doubt after they lost away to Rennes by three goals to one in the opening leg of their Europa League last 16 tie. 

Arsenal started brightly and drew first blood inside three minutes through Alex Iwobi. Nacho Monreal played the ball for Iwobi, he turned, went into the box and put in a cross which went in the goal after the striking the far post. 

Both teams attacked in the first half hour, but Arsenal were definitely more dangerous. Koubek was forced to make a few good saves to prevent Arsenal from doubling their lead. Torreira forced a good save out of the Czech in the 12th minute, Aubameyang had a chance six minutes later and he had to intercept Iwobi's cross six minutes later after good build up play from Ozil. 

However, Rennes took control of the last 15 minutes of the first period, a spell in which they equalised and drew an Arsenal sending off. Cech was called into action by Ben Arfa, who tried his luck from long range, Hunou hit over and Rennes put on pressure before they equalised straight after Sokratis' red. Benjamin Bourigeaud hit the resulting free kick straight injto the wall, but he got a second opportunity and struck the ball sweetly into the top corner leaving Cech for dead. 

Sokratis was dismissed for two yellows and you cannot say he had not been warned. In the 27th minute, he kicked Hunou in the back of the leg. On that occasion, he was given a verbal warning, which he did not heed. Seven minutes later he brought down Ben Arfa to see his first card and just 120 seconds later, he pulled back Ismaila Sarr when he was going through on goal. The Slovakian referee, Ivan Kruzliak, had no other option, but to give the Greek his marching orders. 

In the second period, there was only one team on the park. Rennes dominated it from start to finish and the French team quickly detected a weakness down Arsenal's left, the side Nacho Monreal was covering. The defence could not handle Sarr's pace down that flank and Bourigeaud disposed of plenty of opportunities to score. 

Cech was called into action on various occasions. Most of the time, it was the combination of Bourigeard and Sarr doing the damage. In the 56th minute, Sarr beat Monreal and Bourigeaud was ready to tap in, but Koscielny got a vital touch on the cross to keep it all square. 

Shortly after that, Cech was forced to make a double save and in the 65th minute, Julien Stephan's side finally found the well deserved second goal. Bensebaini completely scuffed a shot, Zeffane ran onto the loose ball before putting in a cross which Monreal turned into his own goal. Emery brought on Ramsey, but that made no difference. Arsenal started to attack before Aubameyang was brought off in the 79th minute to try and keep it tight at the back. The Gabonese made his feelings known about the change while he was sitting on the bench. 

When it looked like it would finish 2-1 and Arsenal had got out of France with a fairly positive result considering the fact they played over 50 minutes one man light, disaster struck. Two minutes from the end of normal time, Rennes scored a brilliant team goal with an attack which started deep in their own half. Arsenal lost the ball from the throw in and after more than 10 passes, the substitute Siliki, whose introduction made a difference, put in a beautiful cross for Sarr to head home at the far post from inside the six-yard box to send the sold-out Roazhon Park crowd into raptures.  

The final whistle brought to a close what was a dream night for the team from Brittany and ended a miserable night for the Gunners. From having it under control until Sokratis' dismissal to being convincingly and deservedly beaten and having it all to do at the Emirates in a week's time.