Striding clear at the Ligue 1 summit, it only seems a matter of time until PSG win a record-extending 12th French top-flight title. They started brightly in search of an early goal, and but for a fingertip save from Steve Mandanda to deny Vitinha’s effort, they would’ve had one.
You sensed that had to serve as a wake-up call for Rennes, who reached the half-hour mark without as much as mustering a single strike on goal.
That all changed shortly after, when Amine Gouiri weaved his way into the area and with the outside of his right foot, bent an effort into the corner of Gianluigi Donnarumma’s goal.
Clearly full of confidence after his wondergoal, Gouiri was at it again not too long after, again taking it upon himself to drive forward before firing an effort inches wide of the target.
There was audible discontent as the HT whistle sounded at the Parc des Princes, and with that being the first time PSG have trailed at the break in Ligue 1 this season, it was easy to understand why.
The hosts’ response to that after the break was relatively muted, with plenty of huff and puff, but little by way of quality in the final third.
It took until the hour mark for PSG to force their first meaningful opening of the second half, but again when they did, Mandanda proved his worth with another save, this time to deny Ousmane Dembélé.
That was perhaps the prod Rennes needed that the game wasn’t over, and keen to double their advantage, they continued to probe and nearly did so when Benjamin Bourigeaud flashed an effort inches wide of the target.
That left the door open for the Parisians, who came tantalisingly close to levelling the scores when Danilo Pereira’s header flew inches over the bar.
Such was the desperation on show from PSG, Gonçalo Ramos dived in the area in the dying minutes, and despite initially being given as a penalty, a swift VAR check confirmed the Portuguese had tumbled under no contact and Rennes could breathe a sigh of relief.
In controversial circumstances though, Ramos did then win a penalty in stoppage time when he tumbled under contact from Mandanda, and he dusted himself off to step forward and stroke home the resulting penalty that most neutrals will argue they didn’t deserve, but as the old footballing adage goes - that’s the hallmark of champions.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Amine Gouiri (Rennes)
