Ligue 1 wrap: PSG in seventh heaven

PSG restored their seven-point advantage at the top of Ligue 1 with a 2-0 victory at Rennes on Saturday.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men had seen their lead trimmed to four points by Marseille’s 1-0 win over Bordeaux on Friday, and goals from Jeremy Menez and Zlatan Ibrahimovic helped pull them clear again.

It took PSG until just before the hour mark to break the deadlock at the Stade de la Route de Lorient, with Menez taking it upon himself to glide past four challenges before sliding a composed finish past Benoit Costil.

In stoppage time, Ibrahimovic made it 2-0 with a finish from little more than a yard out after substitute David Beckham clipped a ball across the box.

Elsewhere, Nice climbed to fourth place with a thrilling 4-3 victory at Toulouse.

Eric Bautheac gave Nice the lead one minute in, but goals from Wissam Ben Yedder and Etienne Capoue had Toulouse 2-1 up by the 20th minute.

Bautheac’s second goal had things all square at the interval, and when Argentine striker Dario Cvitanich netted in the 69th minute Nice were ahead once again.

Toulouse suffered a hammer blow late on when goalkeeper Ali Ahamada was sent off, but Ben Yedder’s second goal, in the 90th minute, looked certain to have salvaged a point for the home side.

Nice substitute Kevin Anin had other ideas though, and his goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time sealed all three points for Claude Puel’s team.

Champions Montpellier ended a run of three league games without a win when they posted a 3-1 home victory over Valenciennes, with goals from Souleymane Camara, Daniel Congre and Younes Belhanda doing the damage.

Nancy gave their hopes of avoiding relegation a boost when a second-half Romain Grange goal gave them a 1-0 win over bottom side Troyes.

Bastia climbed to 12th place thanks to their 4-0 thumping of Brest, with exciting striker Florian Thauvin bagging a double, and Sochaux and Ajaccio played out a 0-0 draw.