Toulouse too hot for Rennes

Toulouse brushed aside Rennes with a clinical spell of three goals in 20 minutes either side of half-time.

Aleksandar Pesic gave the visitors the lead four minutes before the break, Fallou Diagne put the ball past his own goalkeeper to double the advantage and Wissam Ben Yedder rounded out the scoring shortly after the hour mark.

Victory took Toulouse to seventh in Ligue 1 on 10 points, having taken just one from their last two matches, while Rennes have questions to answer after suffering a second consecutive 3-0 reverse.

The sides were even in the opening stages with goalkeepers Zacharie Boucher and Benoit Costil both making decent saves.

Costil needed to be alert to deny Adrien Regattin and Boucher was equally alert to stop Paul-Georges Ntep close-range effort and Diagne's header.

Toulouse gradually took control and Marcel Tisserand's cross was begging to be converted only for Pesic to miss his connection and Ben Yedder to poke wide.

But they got their first reward after 41 minutes, Regattin dribbling beyond Gelson Fernandes before laying off for Pesic to finish smartly.

The hosts yielded further ground nine minutes after the interval, Tisserand's teasing cross going in off the unwitting Diagne with Tongo Doumbia in close attendance.

It took Toulouse just five more minutes to make it three, Regattin again playing creator as he bustled through the back line and fed Ben Yedder, who finished precisely past Costil.

A shellshocked Rennes might have shipped a fourth when Dragos Grigore volleyed goalwards but in the 65th minute but Costil was in the right position this time and punched clear.

The last 15 minutes saw the home side searching for consolation but neither Steven Moreira nor Pedro Henrique could find a way past Boucher.