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PARIS. — Paris St-Germain’s 100 percent start in the French Ligue 1 football was ended by Rennes yesterday as Lionel Messi suffered his first defeat since arriving at the club.

The hosts scored two quick goals either side of half-time through Gatetan Laborde and Flavien Tait.

PSG, beaten in the pre-season Trophy of champions by Lille, stayed top of the standings with 24 points, six ahead of second-placed RC Lens who beat Stade de Reims 2-0 on Friday.

Rennes moved up to seventh on 12 points.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side did not have a single shot on target, despite Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe all starting.

The defeat is PSG’s first in Ligue 1 since April, when they were beaten by last season’s eventual champions Lille.

Rennes opened the scoring on 44 minutes when Laborde converted from Kamaldeen Sulemana’s superb cross.

Tait added a second soon after the restart with a sweeping finish into the bottom corner. After slicing an effort high over the bar in the first half, Mbappe thought he had pulled a goal back for Pochettino’s side midway through the second half, only for it to be ruled out for offside by the video assistant referee (VAR).

The Frenchman is now on a run of five games without a goal in all competitions.

PSG were spared further damage when referee Ruddy Buquet reversed his decision to award Rennes a penalty for Achraf Hakimi’s foul on Laborde after checking the pitchside monitor.

Neymar missed a volley in the first half and Idrissa Gueye fired wide of the post, but Lionel Messi came closest for PSG when he hit the crossbar from a free-kick.

Bruno Genesio’s Rennes side had only won twice in Ligue 1 heading into yesterday’s game, but were clinical in front of goal and scored from two of their four shots on target.

Five days after an impressive win over Manchester City in the Champions League, PSG got off to a lively start but lacked sharpness as Neymar skied a close-range attempt over the bar in the 22nd minute.

Messi’s 25-metre free-kick crashed against the crossbar and although he combined well with Neymar and Mbappe, the visitors struggled to break the deadlock.

Rennes, who had less than 72 hours to recuperate after beating Vitesse Arnhem in the Europa League on Thursday, went ahead on the stroke of half-time in clinical fashion.

Laborde netted his sixth goal of the season by volleying home from Kamaldeen Sulemana’s cross.

Having failed to manage a single shot on target in the first half, PSG were caught cold straight after the interval as Tait fired home from Laborde’s cross.

The hugely disappointing Neymar was substituted by Mauro Icardi in the 76th minute but the Argentine failed to inspire PSG who also failed to muster a shot on target in the second half.

Rennes kept their composure in the closing stages as they handed PSG their first away league defeat for eight months. — BBC Sport.