Brest put five past Angers, with Ludovic Ajorque and Lucas Tousart heading in either side of a penalty

Brest were four goals up before Angers had even got to half-time, and a red card early in the second half turned the rest of the afternoon into a formality. Ludovic Ajorque and Lucas Tousart both scored with headers, Kenny Lala added a penalty, and Mama Baldé made it four right on the stroke of half-time. Angers pulled one back through Prosper Peter early in the second half, but Jordan Lefort's dismissal minutes later ended any hope of a real comeback, and Pathé Mboup's goal in the 54th minute made it 5-1.

• 9' — Ludovic Ajorque (Brest), header
• 17' — Lucas Tousart (Brest), header
• 30' — Kenny Lala (Brest), penalty
• 45' — Mama Baldé (Brest)
• 47' — Prosper Peter (Angers), header
• 54' — Pathé Mboup (Brest)
• 59' — Jordan Lefort sent off (Angers)

Four goals before the break

Angers never got a foothold. Ajorque's header after nine minutes and Tousart's after seventeen gave Brest a platform, Lala's penalty in the 30th minute made it three, and Baldé's finish right at the end of the half meant the home side went in 4-0 up — a return that owed as much to set-piece delivery as to open play, with two of the first four goals coming from headers.

A reply, then a red card, then a fifth

Peter's header two minutes into the second half gave Angers something to show for a difficult afternoon, but Lefort's red card in the 59th minute, with the visitors already three goals down, removed any realistic path back into the game. Mboup's goal five minutes later made it 5-1, and from there both sides played out the remainder with the result long since decided — the final stat line showed nine shots on target to three for a Brest side that converted at a rate few teams manage in Ligue 1.

Brest climb into the top half

Brest went into the round seventh on 8 points from six matches, with two wins, two draws and two defeats to that point — a mid-table season so far rather than a standout one. This result, their biggest win of the campaign, is a step up from the kind of narrow or level results (2-2 with Le Mans, 2-2 with Toulouse) that had otherwise defined their start. For Angers, the defeat extends a stop-start season of their own — they arrived having won two, drawn one and lost two of their first five, and a 5-1 scoreline is their heaviest defeat of the campaign by some distance.

What's next

The win lifts Brest up the table with a goal difference boost that should help them for weeks to come. Angers, with Lefort suspended for the next match, will need to regroup quickly to avoid this result turning into a longer slide.