French Ligue 1 report: Rennes held at home

Rennes missed the chance to further ease their relegation fears after being held to a goalless home draw by Remy Riou-inspired Nantes.

The hosts created nearly all the best openings in the match but could find no way past visiting goalkeeper Riou as the spoils were shared at the Stade de la Route de Lorient.

Rennes remain in 11th place but, with six of the sevens teams below them in action on Saturday picking up points, they are now closer to the relegation dogfight than they were at the start of the day.

Toulouse's surprise win over Bordeaux was especially painful for Rennes, as it means they are now only seven points above the bottom three.

Things could have looked a lot brighter for Philippe Montanier's men if they had taken just one of their chances against ninth-placed Nantes, though.

Pedro Henrique was the first to be denied by Riou after seeing his fifth-minute free-kick parried away, while the former Auxerre keeper also thwarted Paul Ntep in the 13th minute after the forward had been put clean through by Henrique.

Nantes responded by creating their only significant chance of the match, which saw Serge Gakpe steal possession in the 35th minute, race towards goal and unleash a shot that Benoit Costil did well to push away. The rebound fell to Jordan Veretout but he could not keep his volley down.

Rennes were back on the attack just before the break but again Riou was equal to the threat after Ntep and Henrique had linked up again - the latter being the one put through this time.

It was a similar story after the break with Riou showing quick reflexes in the 49th minute to prevent Abdoulaye Doucoure from tapping into an empty net.

Riou was able to catch his breath for a while after that as the match went into a lull, but he found his goal under threat again five minutes from time when Ola Toivonen pulled down a superb cross from Benjamin Andre before lashing a volley just inches over.

The last chance of the match also fell Rennes' way, but again they could not take it as Doucoure headed narrowly wide.