PSG return to winning ways with confident display at Rennes

Paris Saint-Germain bounced back from their heavy Champions League loss at Newcastle United to beat Rennes 3-1 in Ligue 1 on Sunday.

PSG were thrashed 4-1 in Newcastle on Wednesday, a result and a performance which raised serious doubts about their prospects in Europe this season.

But they returned to form against Rennes at a ground where they have regularly struggled in recent years, recording a win which lifts them up to third in the table, two points behind leaders Monaco.

Coach Luis Enrique abandoned his experiment with playing four forwards, and the returning midfielder Vitinha opened the scoring with a brilliant arcing strike into the top corner from an Ousmane Dembele pass just after the half-hour mark.

It was 2-0 four minutes later when Warren Zaire-Emery crossed for Achraf Hakimi, arriving unmarked in the box, to head in.

Amine Gouiri headed in from close range to get Rennes back into the match in the 56th minute, but PSG scored again just two minutes later as Hakimi's low delivery was converted at the near post by Randal Kolo Muani, who had been dropped from the starting line-up.

Kolo Muani had another goal disallowed for offside, while Kylian Mbappe somehow shot over late on after a brilliant burst forward that had taken him around the goalkeeper.