Rennes hammer Montpellier to bolster Champions League bid

Rennes shook off their painful midweek French Cup semi-final exit to thrash Montpellier 5-0 in Ligue 1 on Sunday and maintain their one-point lead over Lille in the race for France’s third and final Champions League spot.

Last season’s Ligue 1 runners-up Lille kept the pressure on with a 1-0 win over Lyon.

Rennes left-back Faitout Maouassa struck the opener inside 10 minutes at Roazhon Park and Adrien Hunou doubled the lead for Rennes, whose French Cup title defence was ended Thursday by a 2-1 loss to Saint-Etienne.

Flavien Tait added a third for Rennes on 68 minutes before Romain Del Castillo converted a penalty. Hunou grabbed his second of the match from the spot late on to complete the rout.

The side in third place gets a spot in the Champions League qualifying rounds, but Rennes is six points behind second-place Marseille for automatic entry.

Lille edged out in-form Lyon thanks to a first-half goal from Loic Remy.

The former Chelsea and Newcastle striker has now scored 11 goals in his last 18 appearances, having scored only three goals before that this season.

Rémy started his professional career as a 19-year-old with Lyon, but was given limited chances during the club’s heyday of seven straight titles and failed to score in 12 appearances from 2006-08.

Remy’s journeyman career took him to Lens, Nice and Marseille; Queens Park Rangers, Newcastle, Chelsea and Crystal Palace in England; Las Palmas and Getafe in Spain; then finally back to France with Lille. He’s scored more than 150 goals, including seven for France.

The 33-year-old marksman is repaying Lille coach Christophe Galtier’s faith by scoring at a rate of one goal every other game this season.

“We will continue our journey, our path,” said Lille coach. “It (the last part of the season) is a sprint and every match is going to be a fight.”

Also Sunday, French Cup finalist Saint-Étienne’s league struggles continued when it was held 1-1 at home by Bordeaux.

Nigeria forward Josh Maja put Bordeaux ahead in the 65th, but club top scorer Denis Bouanga equalized for Saint-Étienne three minutes later.

Midfielder Mahdi Camara was sent off in the 75th for Saint-Étienne, which is hovering just above the relegation zone.

Paris Saint-Germain’s game at Strasbourg on Saturday was postponed due to fears over the coronavirus outbreak.

The decision was made after a number of people tested positive for COVID-19 in the Haut-Rhin region, which neighbours the Bas-Rhin region where Strasbourg is located.

It was the first Ligue 1 match to be called off because of the virus, which has infected 1,126 people in France and caused 19 deaths.

Agencies