PSG beat Nantes, Rennes tied in Ligue 1

Champions Paris Saint-Germain moved to second place after a 2-0 win over struggling Nantes with star winger Angel di Maria departing injured, while Rennes were held 1-1 by nine-man Angers to miss the chance of going up to fourth in the Ligue 1 football league table.

PSG's opener came after 13 minutes when Jean-Kevin Augustin found Di Maria with a pass through a defender's legs and the Argentine forward fired a powerful left footed shot into the bottom right corner of the net here on Saturday, reports Xinhua.

Di Maria was forced off with a hamstring injury on 36 minutes, with Hatem Ben Arfa replacing him. PSG coach Unai Emery later confirmed that he was just substituted as a precaution and should be fit for the Champions League tie against Arsenal in London on Wednesday.

On the stroke of full time, Jese Rodriguez's penalty made sure of the win after a long range effort from substitute Javier Pastore was handled by Diego Carlos and referee Francois Letexier pointed to the spot.

Jese stepped up and dispatched the penalty with ease, slotting into the bottom left corner with his right foot, sending Riou the wrong way. It was his first goal of the season since joining from Real Madrid.

With the 2-0 home win, PSG went level on points with Ligue 1 leaders Monaco and Nice, as they extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to nine games, but are second due to inferior goal difference.

Also on Saturday, Rennes were held to a 1-1 draw at home by nine-man Angers. Cote d'Ivoire international Giovanni Sio opened the scoring for the hosts on 21 minutes.

The visitors' Romain Thomas saw red card on 58 minutes for pulling Sio's shirt when the forward was through on goal.

However, Nicolas Pepe equalised for Angers with a powerful left-footed long strike with eight minutes left before they were reduced to nine men following Cheikh N'Doye's dismissal in stoppage time.

In other plays of the day, Metz broke their run of five Ligue 1 matches without a win with a 2-1 away triumph over Toulouse, Montpellier came from behind to secure a 1-1 draw at struggling Bastia, and a late goal from defender Tobias Badila helped Nancy defeat Dijon 1-0.

--IANS

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