Paris St-Germain could not maintain their 100% start in Ligue 1 as Rennes ended the run to make Lionel Messi suffer his first defeat with the French Ligue 1 side. It was the Argentine’s first loss since arriving at the club early this season.
The hosts scored two quick goals In the both halves of tither side of half-time through Gatetan Laborde and Flavien Tait. Mauricio Pochettino’s side was unable to make a single shot on target even with Lionel Messi in the field of play. Paris Saint-Germain deployed Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe all in the starting eleven but still could not get an attempt on goal.
The defeat is Patis Saint-Germain’s first in Ligue 1 since April, when they were beaten by last season’s champions Lille. Rennes opened the scoring on 44 minutes when Laborde converted from Kamaldeen Sulemana’s superb cross. Tait added a second soon after the restart with a sweeping finish into the bottom corner.
Mbappe thought he had got a goal after slicing an effort high over the bar in the first half but it was ruled out for offside by the video assistant referee (VAR). The Frenchman is now on a run of five games without a goal in all competitions.
PSG were spared further damage when referee Ruddy Buquet reversed his decision to award Rennes a penalty for Achraf Hakimi’s foul on Laborde after checking the pitchside monitor. Neymar missed a volley in the first half and Idrissa Gueye fired wide of the post, but Lionel Messi came closest for PSG when he hit the crossbar from a free-kick.
Bruno Genesio’s Rennes side had only won two games in Ligue 1 heading into Sunday’s game, but were very clinical in front of goal and scored from two of their four shots on target. Despite the loss PSG is still on top of Ligue 1 table with 24 points, six points clear of Lens, while Rennes move up to seventh.