France Roundup: Nabil Alioui scores twice as Le Havre rallies to draw with Rennes

(Julien Poupart/AP)

PARIS (AP) — Striker Nabil Alioui scored his first pair of goals in the French topflight to help Le Havre rally to a 2-2 draw at Rennes on Sunday.

Rennes wasted the chance to move level on points with Monaco and Marseille at the top of the league after squandering a two-goal lead.

After Rennes dominated the first half and took command of the match with goals from Ludovic Blas and Chirstopher Wooh, Alioui revived Le Havre’s hopes with a header past goalkeeper Steve Mandanda five minutes before the interval.

Le Havre’s chances took another blow near the hour mark with Samuel Grandsir’s sending off, but Alioui managed to snatch another goal in the 70th minute. Well set up by Loic Nego’s pass, Alioui made the most of some slack defending to curl a right-footed shot into the back of the net.

Rennes lags two points behind Monaco and Marseille in the standings after taking five points from its three opening matches. Le Havre, which was promoted to Ligue 1 in June, has two points.

Defending champion PSG has five points after securing its first win of the season against Lens on Saturday.

Reims 3, Montpellier 1

Newly signed Teddy Teuma scored twice to help Reims end Montpellier’s unbeaten run and move to third place.

The Malta midfielder, who joined Reims from Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise this summer, scored two impressive goals with his left foot to complete the 3-1 win after Yunis Abdelhamid’s opener in the eighth minute.

Teuma got his first goal from a free kick near the edge of the area and then beat goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte with a powerful half-volley under the bar.

Jordan winger Mousa Al Tamari scored Montpellier’s goal, taking his tally to three goals in as many games.

Reims has six points, two more than Montpellier.

Also, Strasbourg beat Toulouse 2-0 with a pair of second-half goals, and promoted Metz secured its first win of the season with a 1-0 away win at Clermont.

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