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Benjamin Mendy scores first goal since return to football - and it's against his former club

Nearly five months after he returned to playing football, ex-Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy has managed to find the back of the net

 Benjamin MENDY (fcl) during the Ligue 1 Uber Eats match between Football Club de Lorient and Olympique de Marseille at Stade Yves Allainmat on December 10, 2023 in Lorient, France
Benjamin Mendy has made six appearances for Lorient this season(Image: Icon Sport via Getty Images)

Ex-Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy scored his first goal since he was found not guilty of rape.


As well as six charges he was cleared of after a trial in January this year, the French international was also found not guilty of rape and attempted rape following a two-week retrial held in July. Soon after he was cleared, Mendy was signed by Ligue 1 side Lorient on a free transfer.


He has only made six appearances for Regis Le Bris' side since his arrival. However, in a clash against one of his former teams, the 29-year-old managed to find the back of the net from a tight angle.


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Lorient were facing off against Ligue 1 giants Marseille, who Mendy also appeared for between 2013 and 2016. The defender reacted quickest to a rebound which was palmed out to the left-hand side of the penalty area.

After getting the ball under control, he managed to squeeze an effort through Marseille goalkeeper Pau Lopez and into the back of the net. However, with the French giants leading the clash 4-1, thanks to goals from Chancel Mbemba, a brace from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Leonardo Balerdi, it was more of a consolation goal.

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Benjamin MENDY (fcl) during the Ligue 1 Uber Eats match between Football Club de Lorient and Olympique de Marseille at Stade Yves Allainmat on December 10, 2023 in Lorient, France
Mendy's strike was more of a consolation goal(Image: Icon Sport via Getty Images)


Nevertheless, Mendy will consider it a step forward considering the controversy which enveloped his arrival at the club. There were many who were unhappy Mendy had been signed..

At the time, the Lorient boss said: "The justice system’s verdict should be taken at face value. You can’t redo the trial. We can only echo the words of the Minister for Sports. It’s been sorted out. We can’t casually speak of a trial. Things are controlled and looked into. From the moment the verdict is given, we can’t revisit it.

French footballer Benjamin Mendy leaves Chester Crown Court in Chester, north-west England, on July 14, 2023, having been cleared of one count of rape and another of attempted rape. A UK court jury on Friday acquitted former Manchester City and France footballer Benjamin Mendy of one count of rape and another of attempted rape. Mendy, 28, had been on trial at Chester Crown Court, northwest England, after previously being cleared of six counts of rape and one of sexual assault
Mendy was cleared of six counts of rape in January and acquitted of two more counts in July(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
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"There’s no need to go back over the trial in the public space. Then, we had the conversation about measuring the way in which the player was apprehending all of this.

"And [his] daily behaviour is in line. A club has to ask itself the question, and that’s what we’ve done. It’s a subject that can’t be avoided. What I like about this story, is that there’s an element of [him being an] outsider, a rehabilitation, a conqueror after a difficult story. I think that what’s happening around Benjamin is symbolic in terms of what we want to be as a team and as a club."

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