Monaco Secure Top Spot in Ligue 1 After Victory Against Rennes

Monaco claimed the top spot in the Ligue 1 table on Saturday with a 2-1 victory over Rennes, putting them three points ahead of current champions Paris Saint-Germain. Thilo Kehrer and Folarin Balogun scored the goals that propelled Monaco to 19 points. PSG, sitting on 16 points with a superior goal difference, will have the opportunity to reclaim the lead when they face Nice on Sunday. Monaco's coach, Adi Huetter, expressed his satisfaction with their performance, stating, "After seven games, we have 19 points, and that's a fact we're truly delighted about."

However, he added: "The championship is not a 100-metre sprint, it's a 400-metre race, and we've started very well."

Monaco's match in the rain in Brittany was decided early in the first half. Kehrer opened the scoring before Ludovic Blas levelled and Balogun then tucked home the winner, all in the first 22 minutes.

Continuing his fine start to the season, Monaco youngster Eliesse Ben Seghir had a part in both of his side's goals.

His sixth-minute corner met the head of Kehrer, who glanced it into the back of the net despite the efforts of a defender on the line.

Blas put Rennes back on terms five minutes later with a rocket of a left-foot strike from more than 35 yards that flew past Philipp Koehn.

But Balogun wrapped up the points for Huetter's side when he clipped the ball past an advancing Steve Mandanda in the 22nd minute after a defence-splitting pass from Ben Seghir.

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Earlier on Saturday, Lille moved up to fourth, coming from behind to win at home against lowly Toulouse.

Zakaria Aboukhlal gave the 16th-placed side a surprise lead six minutes before the interval when he squeezed a shot on the rebound over the line from a tight angle.

But former Manchester United playmaker Angel Gomes levelled for Lille on 57 minutes when he prodded home Osame Sahraoui's lofted pass from close range.

Mitchel Bakker made it two wins in a week at home for Lille -- after Wednesday's 1-0 victory over Real Madrid in the Champions League -- with a composed finish in the 72nd minute, rounding off a swift counter-attack.

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A hat-trick from Zuriko Davitashvili propelled Saint-Etienne out of the relegation zone as they beat Auxerre 3-1 at home.

The Georgian opened the scoring first after a quarter of a hour with a thumping finish after carrying the ball 40 yards into the visitors' penalty area.

He hit his second on 54 minutes after again cutting in from the left flank and taking aim with his right foot.

Theo Bair halved the deficit with 15 minutes remaining, before Davitashvili completed his triple with a dinked finish on 87 minutes.

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On Sunday, Lyon host Nantes while Reims and Lens are also in action, before PSG travel to ninth-placed Nice.

(This story has not been edited by staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)