Rennes celebrated a convincing 3-0 victory against financially strong club Lyon in the French league on Sunday.
Benjamin Bourigeaud opened the scoring in the 19th minute with a deflected free kick. Less than a minute later, Amine Gouiri increased the lead to 2-0 for Rennes after a quick counterattack.
Henrik Meister, a Danish striker signed from Rennes this summer, sealed the win with an injury-time goal to cap a dominant performance.
Lyon, which struggled last season, made a poor start to the new campaign despite spending heavily in the transfer window. Striker Georges Mikautadze, bought for €18.5 million ($20 million) after an impressive Euro 2024 campaign with Georgia, failed to take a penalty on Sunday. Lyon centre-back Moussa Niakhaté, a €32 million ($35 million) signing from Nottingham Forest, was responsible for two of the three goals conceded.
In other matches, Auxerre celebrated its return to Ligue 1 with a 2-1 victory over Nice at the Stade de l’Abbé Deschamps. Nice took the lead through a Mohamed-Ali Cho header, but Auxerre equalised before half-time through a Rayan Raveloson goal. Lasso Coulibaly scored the winner in injury time.
Lens beat newly promoted Angers 1-0. Wesley Saïd scored in the first half to ensure a successful start to the league for new coach Will Still.
Toulouse and Nantes drew 0-0, while Montpellier and Strasbourg shared the points in a 1-1 draw.
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AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Tom Nouvian, Associated Press
