Paris: Paris Saint-Germain has further stamped their authority on the French first division with a sixth consecutive victory that sees them provisionally ten points clear atop the standings ahead of the remaining Week 12 fixtures.
Angel Di Maria netted the only goal of the game with 15 minutes left to play to ensure the capital club return from Brittany with another three points safely in the bag.
The Argentina winger scored in the 75th minute after being set up by Brazilian winger Lucas, giving him the perfect confidence-booster before PSG’s trip to play Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Di Maria played for four seasons for Madrid before joining Manchester United last season, but it was an unhappy spell in northern England and he joined PSG in the off-season.
"It will do him a lot of good, he’s a great player," PSG midfielder Blaise Matuidi said. "He just needs to adapt to our league, and I hope he has a great game on Tuesday."
PSG coach Laurent Blanc rested star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic ahead of the game in Madrid and PSG lacked sharpness in a dour first half.
The match turned when Marco Verratti came off the bench and 10 minutes later started the move for the goal.
Collecting the ball outside the PSG penalty area, the Italy midfielder advanced and then hit a superb cross-field pass to pick out Brazilian winger Lucas as he sprinted down the left.
Lucas took the ball in his stride and clipped a well-weighted pass toward the penalty area, where Di Maria finished with a neat low volley into the right corner for his third league goal in eight games.
Rennes struggled to create chances, but went close in the 84th when Brazilian midfielder Pedro Henrique fired a shot wide of the left post.
Tempers frayed at the end as PSG midfielder Thiago Motta squared up to Rennes’ Abdoulaye Doucoure after Doucoure had shoved him.
PSG leads second-place Angers by 10 points ahead of this weekend’s matches.
Angers travels to play Monaco on Sunday, while third-place Caen which is one point behind Angers is at Corsican side Bastia on Saturday.
QNA
