Rennes moved top of the Ligue 1 standings with a comprehensive 3-0 home triumph over RC Strasbourg on Sunday, moving one point ahead of Lille and AS Monaco, who drew earlier in the day. The Rennes top Ligue 1 story took shape after Monaco fought back to hold Lille 1-1 at Stade Louis II.
Sebastian Szymanski scored a double for Rennes, who advanced to 16 points from eight games, with Boulaye Dia opening the scoring in a comfortable triumph. Lille and Monaco are level on 15 points after they played out a 1-1 draw in the principality.
Ethan Mbappe strikes before Monaco fight back
Ethan Mbappe opened the scoring in the 24th minute as Lille imposed their early dominance. The younger brother of France and Real Madrid star Kylian showed the crisp finishing instincts associated with the Mbappe name as he darted into the box and whipped a first-time shot with his left foot past Lukas Hradecky.
Monaco rarely threatened through the rest of the opening period, but the match burst into life in the second half. Monaco’s Paris Brunner passed up a golden opportunity in the 65th minute, before Lille defender Tanguy Nianzou was given his marching orders for a reckless challenge.
The hosts then levelled in the 74th minute as Edan Diop’s cross toward Brunner evaded everyone and found the far corner. With Paris Saint-Germain and Lyon match pushed back to Monday due to protests taking place across France this weekend, a winner in the principality would have gone three points clear at the top of the table.
New Monaco coach Filipe Luis switched things around with a bevy of changes for the second half. Following Nianzou’s dismissal in the 66th minute, Diop equalised in the 74th minute to rescue a point for the hosts.
Rennes top Ligue 1 as title race tightens
First-half goals for Boulaye Dia and Sebastian Szymanski put Rennes in the driving seat against Strasbourg. Polish midfielder Szymanski netted just after the hour to secure the points for Franck Haise’s team as they moved into top spot in Ligue 1.
That situation could change on Monday when PSG take on Lyon, although Luis Enrique’s team will be without Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele, captain Marquinhos and winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who suffered an anterior cruciate ligament tear during the team’s 4-2 Champions League victory against Barcelona in midweek.
Champions Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique Lyonnais are next in the standings with 14 points and will play in the capital on Monday. The clash at the Parc des Princes was moved from Sunday to Monday after police raised security concerns ahead of weekend protests that had hundreds of thousands of demonstrators marching on Saturday. Largely peaceful rallies gave way to clashes as night fell despite a huge security operation.
Marseille survive late scare at home
Elsewhere on Sunday, eighth-placed Marseille held on to beat bottom-of-the-table Le Havre 4-3 at the Stade Velodrome. The home side were cruising at 4-0 up with just under 15 minutes remaining, until a Josh Maja brace either side of a Lamine Ndiaye goal set up a grandstand finale.
Le Havre had a penalty claim for possible handball seven minutes into stoppage time at the end of the game waved away after a VAR review. Marseille had led 4-0 in the 55th minute but nearly threw it away as Le Havre fought back to 4-3 with one minute to go.
Le Havre remain bottom with two points from their first eight games of the season, three points adrift of Troyes, who picked up an away point in a goalless draw at Toulouse. Toulouse and Troyes, as well as Angers and Lorient, played out goalless stalemates, while Auxerre drew 1-1 with Le Mans.
PSG’s European form was covered in our report on PSG beating Manchester City. Kvaratskhelia’s injury was covered in our report on Kvaratskhelia ACL surgery.
Source reporting: Dawn.
How did Rennes move top of Ligue 1?
Rennes beat Strasbourg 3-0 at home, with Boulaye Dia opening the scoring and Sebastian Szymanski netting twice, to reach 16 points from eight games.
What happened in Monaco against Lille?
Ethan Mbappe put Lille ahead on 24 minutes, Tanguy Nianzou was sent off in the 66th minute and Edan Diop equalised for Monaco in the 74th minute.
