RENNES: 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.

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, with Ethan Mbappe opening the scoring in the 24th minute as Lille imposed their early dominance.

New Monaco coach Filipe Luis switched things around with a bevy of changes for the second half and, following Tanguy Nianzou’s dismissal in the 66th minute, Edan Diop equalised in the 74th minute.

“The plan worked well in the first half,” Lille coach Davide Ancelotti said. “We managed to stick together,” he added of his side following the dismissal of Nianzou. “The mood in the dressing room is positive because we held on until the end.”

Also on Sunday, there was a 4-3 home triumph for beleaguered Olympique de Marseille over Le Havre, helping them move up the league ladder after being stuck in the relegation zone just weeks ago.

They are now eighth with 12 points, although it was a nerve-wracking affair for home fans before Marseille secured a third consecutive league victory.

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.

There were also draws as Lorient were goalless away at Angers, while AJ Auxerre were held 1-1 at home by Le Mans.

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2026