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Monaco moved to the top of Ligue 1 with a 2-1 away win at Rennes on Saturday, three points ahead of reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain.
The principality scored 19 points thanks to goals from Thilo Kehrer and Folarin Balogun. PSG, who are in 16th place and have a better goal difference, will have a chance to overtake them on Sunday against Nice.
“After seven games we have 19 points, that is the reality and the truth and we are really happy about that,” said Monaco coach Adi Hütter.
However, he added: “The championship is not a 100-meter sprint, but a 400-meter race and we started very well.”
Monaco’s game in the rain in Brittany was decided early in the first half. Kehrer opened the scoring before Ludovic Blas equalized and then Balogun scored the winner, all in the first 22 minutes.
Monaco’s youngster Eliesse Ben Seghir continued his good start to the season and was involved in both of his team’s goals.
His corner kick in the sixth minute hit the head of Kehrer, who shot it into the net despite the efforts of a defender on the line.
Blas put Rennes back in the lead five minutes later with a rocket-like left-footed shot from more than 35 meters that flew past Philipp Koehn.
But Balogun secured the points for Huetter’s side when he flicked the ball past an advancing Steve Mandanda in the 22nd minute following a pass from Ben Seghir.
Earlier on Saturday, Lille moved up to fourth place after coming from behind to win at home against struggling Toulouse.
Zakaria Aboukhlal gave the 16th-placed side a surprise lead six minutes before half-time when he fired the rebound over the line from a tight angle.
But former Manchester United playmaker Angel Gomes equalized for Lille in the 57th minute when he directed Osame Sahraoui’s high-flying pass home from close range.
Mitchel Bakker secured Lille’s second home win in a week – following their 1-0 win over Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday – with a confident finish in the 72nd minute that capped off a quick counter-attack.
A hat-trick from Zuriko Davitashvili lifted Saint-Etienne out of the relegation zone as they beat Auxerre 3-1 at home.
The Georgian scored the first goal after a quarter of an hour with a brilliant finish after carrying the ball 40 meters into the visitors’ penalty area.
He scored his second goal in the 54th minute after again cutting forward from the left side and shooting with his right foot.
Theo Bair halved the deficit with 15 minutes left before Davitashvili completed his three-pointer with a dinked finish in the 87th minute.
On Sunday, Lyon host Nantes, while Reims and Lens are also in action before PSG travel to ninth-placed Nice.
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