Paris Saint-Germain suffered another setback as they fell to their first Ligue 1 home defeat in almost two years when they were beaten 2-0 by Stade Rennais on Sunday.
While they still lead Lens by nine points in the league table, PSG were knocked out of the Champions League by Bayern Munich earlier this month and also knocked out of the French Cup by Marseille in February.
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That left only the league title to focus on, and Sunday’s performance at the Parc des Princes exposed the capital’s team’s shortcomings and put more pressure on manager Christophe Galtier after the team was booed by home fans at the final whistle.
Sunday’s defeat was PSG’s first in a home league game since April 3, 2021, against Lille, before Lionel Messi joined the club.
Once again, their attack plans were limited to finding kylian mbappewhile the defense was not up to the task in the absence of the injured presnel kimpembe and marquinhos.
Rennes, who prevailed with goals from Karl Toko Ekambi and Arnaud Kalimuendothey have now beaten PSG twice this season and moved up to fifth with 50 points from 28 games, 16 behind PSG.
Monaco is fourth with 54 after beating AC Ajaccio 2-0 on Sunday.
“I’m sure we played a very bad game. There’s little to say. I’m sorry for the fans who are always there. It’s not us, it’s not our team,” said the PSG Vitinha midfielder.
“We are very, very sad because we never imagined this. The club does not deserve this. It is not enough. We have to do better in the next game.”
Galtier added: “You get the feeling that the players didn’t give it their all, but that’s not how I feel.”
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In the Parque de los Príncipes, Mbappé had two attempts brilliantly denied by steve mandanda – a fine kick from the France striker on 26′ and a powerful shot from inside the box five minutes from half-time.
Rennes, on the other hand, made the most of their chances.
On the stroke of halftime, Toko Ekambi received a magnificent long ball from Benjamin Bourigeaud and shot from inside the box, making up for a couple of previous bad calls.
Rennes doubled their lead with their second shot on goal, three minutes into the second half, when Kalimuendo latched on to Lesley Ugochukwu’s cross to beat Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Forward Hugo Ekitike replaced midfielder Fabian Ruiz while midfielder Renato Sanchez entered by defender John Bernat before the hour, but it was Rennes who came closest to scoring again through Toko Ekambi.
Later on Sunday, Alexis Sanchez scored a brace to give Marseille all three points at Reims, who had been unbeaten in Ligue 1 for six months.
Reims, who had opened the scoring by Balogun Folarinthey are ninth with 43 points.
