Five-star Rennes win big

Rennes ended their four-match losing run in spectacular fashion as they hammered Toulouse 5-0.

Rennes ended their four-match losing run in spectacular fashion as they hammered Toulouse 5-0 at the Stadium Municipal. Goals from Romain Alessandrini, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Foued Kadir saw Rennes 3-0 up a the break and a second-half brace from Nelson Oliveira completed the rout. The result sees Rennes leapfrog their opponents in the Ligue 1 table and move up to eighth. Alessandrini had the first effort of note as he connected with Bakayoko's cross but Toulouse goalkeeper Ali Ahamada was equal to it. The 24-year-old had his goal in the 24th minute, though, as Sylvain Armand's long ball fell for Jonathan Pitroipa whose shot was saved by Ahamada but Alessandrini was on hand to slot home the rebound. Ten minutes later it was 2-0 and Alessandrini was involved again as his free-kick caused an almighty scramble in the box and Bakayoko took advantage of some poor positioning from Ahamada to head into an abandoned net. Rennes were in total control but they needed some good fortune for their third goal two minutes before the break as Kadir's free-kick from 20 yards out took a wicked deflection off Aymrn Abdennour and left Ahamada with no chance. Toulouse had their best chance 10 minutes into the second half as Clement Chantome and Etienne Didot combined to find Wissam Ben Yedder but his volley was saved by Benoit Costil. Seven minutes later Rennes made the home side pay for that miss as Alessandrini, who was having a stunning evening, found Oliveira and the Portuguese finished from close range. Abdennour brought a save from Costil with an 81st minute free kick but just moments later the defender's error allowed Oliveira to make it 5-0. The Tunisian attempted to pass back to Ahamada but Oliveira swooped in on his undercooked effort and stroked home to complete the scoring.