Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - Stade Rennes v OGC Nice - Roazhon Park, Rennes, France - January 13, 2024 Stade Rennes' Bertug Ozgur Yildirim in action with OGC Nice's Reda Belahyane REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
RENNES, France (Reuters) - Faltering Nice suffered a humbling 2-0 defeat at Stade Rennais on Saturday to lose further ground in the French Ligue 1 title race.
Nice, who have now suffered three losses in five league matches following an unbeaten start to the season, still cling to second place in the standings on 35 points.
Leaders Paris St Germain can extend their lead over Nice when they face Lens on Sunday. Rennes are 10th with 22 points.
Nice fell behind in the 31st minute when a header from Rennes' Martin Terrier struck Pablo Rosario's arm, setting up a penalty that Benjamin Bourigeaud converted.
Nine minutes into the second half, Arnaud Kalimuendo doubled Rennes' lead after receiving a through ball from Enzo Le Fee and steering it home from an acute angle.
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk, editing by Ed Osmond)
