Angel di Maria scored the only goal of the game as Paris Saint-Germain moved 10 points clear at the top of Ligue 1 with a 1-0 victory over Rennes on Friday evening.
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The big news prior to the game was Laurent Blanc's decision to leave Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the bench after the Swedish striker had battled flu for much of the week, and it was his replacement Ezequiel Lavezzi who threatened first when he tested Benoit Costil with a powerful strike from a tight angle.
Di Maria was proving to be a constant threat to the Rennes defence, with the Argentine showing clever footwork to create space for a long-range strike which Costil collected easily.
Rennes rarely caused problems for the PSG defence as they settled for remaining defensively solid, but a good opportunity was wasted when Abdoulaye Doucoure miscued a shot over the crossbar.
Costil continued to stand in the way of PSG as he made vital contributions either side of the break by pushing Lucas Moura's effort to safety, before sprinting off his line to collect the ball at the feet of Lavezzi early in the second half.
Despite the efforts of the hosts, a breakthrough appeared to be inevitable as Lavezzi and Di Maria linked up more frequently as the game progressed.
A substitute played a key role in finding the opening goal 15 minutes from time as Marco Veratti sliced open the Rennes defence to find Lucas, whose inch-perfect cross allowed Di Maria to finish emphatically.
Rennes threatened to snatch a point late on when Pedro Henrique curled just past the post, but PSG held on to make it 10 wins from 12 league games this season.
Callum Mulvihill
