On Friday, Rennes stopped Paris Saint-Germain's winning streak in the twenty-second stage of the French League, defeating them by three goals to one. Jordanian Musa Al-Taamari's name shone in this confrontation, as he was among the two Rennes goalscorers. The Parisian team is now threatened with losing first place to Lens, which trails them by two points before facing Paris FC on Saturday.
Published on: 02/14/2026 - 11:23 Last updated: 02/14/2026 - 12:25
Paris Saint-Germain stumbled against Rennes on Friday in the twenty-second stage of the French League, where it was defeated by three to one goal after a series of victories. Jordanian Musa Al-Taamari (34), Esteban Lupul (69), and Swiss substitute Brielle Embolo (81) scored a hat-trick for Rennes against a goal from Ousmane Dembélé (72).
Saint-Germain's streak of consecutive victories in the league stopped at seven, and its score froze at 51 points, and it was threatened with losing first place to Lens, which trailed it by two points before facing Paris FC on Saturday.
As for Rennes, their victory was surprising after four consecutive losses in various competitions, in a series of five matches without a win, but the three points they achieved raised their score to 34 points in fifth place.
It is also the first victory over Saint-Germain since March 2023, after six matches in which it tasted defeat five times, the last of which was 5-0 in the first leg of the current season.
“We have to play as a team, not as individuals.”
“We need to win this type of match,” Dembele said after the match. “We have to play as a team, not as individuals.” He added, "We need to show greater desire. We must play for Paris Saint-Germain in order to win matches, because if everyone plays alone on the field, things will not go well, and we will not win the titles we want."
The former German and Spanish Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona winger praised Rennes, the club in which he excelled about ten years ago, saying, “Rennes played a very good match.”
Rennes quickly bared his fangs when Esteban Leboul shot a ball from inside the area that bounced off the right post of the goal (6). Saint-Germain's response was weak, with Desiree Douai's shot caught by goalkeeper Brice Samba (12).
Quentin Merlin tried to score for Rennes, but Russian goalkeeper Matvey Safonov prevented him (32), before Al-Taamari opened the scoring when he received a ball in which he advanced and dribbled past Ecuadorian Willian Pacho, scoring the ball to the right of the goal (34).
Portuguese Joao Neves almost equalized quickly, but his shot came close to the left post (39).
At the beginning of the second half, Arnoud Nordin wasted a great opportunity to score when he was alone on goal, but shot the ball to the side of the left post (46).
In light of Saint-Germain's inability to penetrate Rennes' defence, the hosts increased the score with Lupul's header after a corner kick taken by Polish Sebastian Szymanski (69).
But the visitors quickly returned with a header as well, scored by Dembélé after a cross played by Moroccan Achraf Hakimi (72). Samba saved his team from a draw with an excellent save from Portuguese substitute Gonçalo Ramos' close shot (77).
But Swiss substitute Brielle Embolo ended things with the third goal, which he scored with his chest after a pass from the other substitute, Ludovic Blaz (81). Monaco beat its guest Nantes 3-1.
France 24/AFP
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