Rennes stun listless Lyon

Juninho Pernambucano was sent off as Olympique Lyonnais lost for the first time this season 1-0 away to Stade Rennais FC on Saturday.

M'Bia winner
The five-times champions, who had not lost in their opening 17 matches in all competitions, were unable to recover from Stephane M'Bia's early goal for lowly Rennes. Gérard Houllier's side, who were gunning for a record tenth successive league victory, remain top of the table with 31 points from 12 matches. "We could have managed a draw," said Lyon right-back Anthony Réveillère. "We pushed a lot in the second half but we had a real bad start."

Lyon struggle
Rennes began brightly and went ahead when midfielder M'Bia headed home an Olivier Monterrubio corner after 13 minutes. Monterrubio was carried off soon after with an ankle injury but it made no difference to Lyon who were struggling to make an impression and failed to get a shot on target in the opening 45 minutes.

Wiltord chance
Olivier Sorlin came close to doubling the home side's lead eight minutes from the interval but his 16-metre shot shaved Grégory Coupet's left-hand post. Lyon, without suspended centre back Cris, stepped up a gear in the second half and Sylvain Wiltord's shot from 25 metres had to be parried away by goalkeeper Simon Pouplin.

Juninho off
Twelve minutes from time Lyon striker Karim Benzema missed a great chance to equalise when his close-range shot was superbly saved by Pouplin. Seconds later, a frustrated Juninho was shown a straight red card for elbowing Rennes midfielder Romain Danze.

Marseille slide
Olympique de Marseille had a chance to cut the gap to eight points but the Provence side lost for the third straight game, 1-0 at home to FC Lorient, and dropped to fourth. LOSC Lille Métropole took advantage of their slip to move up to second with a 3-0 win away to northern rivals Valenciennes FC. Nicolas Fauvergue, Yohan Cabaye and an own goal by Patrick Pauuwe made sure of the points for Lille who are still ten points behind Lyon.

Roma save
Lille are level on 21 points with FC Sochaux-Montbéliard who moved up to third after a Guiran N'daw goal midway through the second half secured a 1-0 home win over ES Troyes Aube Champagne. AS Saint-Etienne are fifth after beating Toulouse FC 3-0, Batefimbi Gomis scoring twice. AS Monaco FC goalkeeper Flavio Roma stopped an Ederson penalty four minutes from time to salvage a goalless draw against OGC Nice, but the principality side remain bottom on eight points.