France: Rennes shuts out Lille

Jonathan Pitroipa and Rennes eased pressure on coach Frederic Antonetti with the win.

David Vincent/AP

PARIS (AP) -- Rennes beat Lille 2-0 in the French league on Friday to climb out of the relegation zone and ease the pressure on coach Frederic Antonetti.

Rennes took the lead in the 64th minute when forward Jonathan Pitroipa's fiercely-struck shot from 30 yards (meters) out was only parried by Mickael Landreau, and winger Julien Feret clipped the loose ball over the Lille keeper.

Landreau had no chance with the second goal when midfielder Romain Alessandrini picked up the ball near the edge of the penalty area and hit a superb shot into the top left corner.

"It feels like we're cursed at the moment. We hit the post in the first half, the crossbar in the second half, two chances were we could have taken the lead," Lille coach Rudi Garcia said. "It's obviously not a good night for us. We played well but we didn't take our chances and when you don't score you become vulnerable."

To make matters worse for Lille, captain Rio Mavuba limped off with a knee injury early in the second half, and Garcia was sent to the stands late on by referee Nicolas Rainville.

Rennes is in 13th place, one spot above Lille, ahead of the weekend action.

Lille has not won any of its past five matches in all competitions and faces a tough match away to Spanish club Valencia in the Champions League on Tuesday.

PSG 2, Sochaux 0

PARIS -- Kevin Gameiro outshone Zlatan Ibrahimovic by scoring both goals as Paris Saint-Germain beat Sochaux 2-0 on Saturday to move provisionally into second place in the French league.

PSG started the season with three consecutive draws but has won its past four league games and five overall. Ibrahimovic was full of confidence after scoring eight goals in six games overall since joining the big spenders, yet he had a quiet match by his high standards.

"It was a good match, especially in the first half where we played with a lot more intensity,'' PSG coach Carlo Ancelotti said. "The rhythm wasn't there in the second half, we eased off too much. But perhaps some players were thinking about the games ahead. That's not right.''

PSG plays away to Porto in the Champions League on Wednesday and then faces bitter rival and French leader Marseille four days later.

With Ibrahimovic taking the limelight, PSG's other strikers have had little playing time this season. But despite making only four substitute appearances, Gameiro looked razor sharp and took his goals well.

"It's so good to score goals and to start a match again,'' Gameiro said. "I need to keep working hard to experience moments like that again, and to shine a bit.''

PSG was three points behind leader Marseille, having played a game more.

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