LIGUE 1
Falcao heads Monaco to Ligue 1 summit
A towering Radamel Falcao header helped send Monaco top in France on Saturday as a 3-0 home win over Rennes saw them leapfrog Paris-Saint Germain.
Rise and shine
A towering Radamel Falcao header helped send Monaco top of Ligue 1 on Saturday - a 3-0 home win over Rennes enabled them to leapfrog Paris-Saint Germain and settle into top spot as overnight leaders.
The win means Leonardo Jardim's side have 13 points from five games ahead of PSG on ten, while Nice have the chance to snuggle up next to Monaco at the top should they win at Montpellier tomorrow.
This was Monaco's seventh win on the trot and comes on the back of a slick 2-1 Champions League triumph over Tottenham midweek. Just a few months ago Falcao's career appeared to have hit rock bottom following unsuccessful injury-blighted loan spells at Manchester United and Chelsea.
But today, the 30-year-old Colombian leapt high at the back post and thundered in a header on 42 minutes to score his first goal for Monaco since August 2014 - 755 days ago to be precise.
Rennes, who had made the long journey from Brittany, rarely had the southerners in trouble and lost concentration as 20-year-old Thomas Lemar scored twice at the end of the game. His first was a far post tap-in set up by Bernardo Silva and the second a lob which left Rennes keeper Benoit Costil following the ball as it arced an dropped behind him into the net.
Rennes captain Pedro Mendes saluted the winners, saying: “That is one very good side and we won't be the only ones to suffer here”.
On Friday, Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani banged four goals past Caen in a 6-0 win for PSG. Lucas Moura and Jean-Kevin Augustin added the other two goals after the break as the capital side ended a run of three games without a win in all competitions.