Goalkeeper Mandanda gets his first career assist in the French league
Mandanda, who joined Marseille during the offseason after 14 seasons at the southern club, assisted Flavien Tait for Rennes’ fourth goal.
The France international collected the ball after a corner kick for Auxerre and sent it down the pitch to Tait. Tait then held off Gideon Mensah before heading home in the 79th.
“It’s not necessarily my first responsibility, but when it happens it makes you happy,” Mandanda said. “At 3-0, I wanted to calm things down a bit, but Flavien was so alone that I had to try. I tried, it passed and he scored. It’s an assist, it’s cool.
Earlier on Sunday, Diaw secured a third clean sheet in seven league appearances for Clermont with some decisive saves against Strasbourg, who dominated throughout and hit the woodwork twice.
Diaw, 29, who joined Clermont this summer from Lausanne, is experiencing the French championship for the first time in his career.
In 2015, he was forced to leave Paris Saint-Germain, a club for which he never played in the league, following a controversy over the publication of a series of messages on social networks.
He has gone through several difficult seasons abroad but has been flawless since the start of this season. Diaw has stopped 16 of the last 17 shots on target he has faced, according to French league statistics.
Sunday against Strasbourg, Diaw parried a long volley that seemed to be heading for the top corner in the first half and blocked an effort from Adrien Thomasson from close range in the 64th.
Thomasson hit the crossbar earlier, and Maxime Le Marchand’s header from a free kick in first-half stoppage time also hit the bar.
Le Marchand was sent off for a second yellow card with two minutes to go as Strasbourg’s league winless streak this season was extended to seven matches. It is only the fourth time that Strasbourg have not won any of their first seven matches. The last time was in the 2005-06 season, and the team was relegated.
Clermont is nine points behind the leader of PSG, who beat Brest 1-0 on Saturday. Strasbourg remains in the relegation zone.
Dango Ouattara led Lorient to a 3-2 win over Nantes with a goal and an assist as the Brittany side extended their best start to the French league.
After escaping relegation with one game to play, Lorient turned the tide this summer under new coach Régis Le Bris. The club play exciting football and the attacking approach has been rewarded with five wins in their opening seven matches.
Sunday’s win over local rivals Nantes lifted Lorient to fourth place, just three points behind PSG.
Ouattarra played a crucial role in Lorient’s dream start, having already four assists and three goals to his name. After Ignatius Ganago put the visitors ahead, Ouattarra equalized with a curling left-footed free kick that left goalkeeper Alban Lafont helpless.
Substitutes Yoann Cathline and Ibrahima Koné also scored for Lorient before Moses Simon ensured a tense end to the game with a goal in the 85th minute.
Caio Henrique delivered a pair of assists to Benoit Badiashile and Guillermo Maripan to help Monaco to a 2-1 win over fifth-placed Lyon.
After a shaky start to the season, Monaco have now won their last three matches in all competitions and climb to seventh place, two points behind Lyon.
Elsewhere, Andy Delort scored the only goal in Nice’s 1-0 win at Ajaccio; Angers beat Montpellier 2-1 for their first win of the season; and Toulouse ended a three-game losing streak by beating Reims 1-0.
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