Rennes enjoy 5-1 win after champions PSG held as Ligue 1 kicks off

PARIS : Stade Rennes handed promoted Metz a rude welcome back to Ligue 1 with a 5-1 thumping on Sunday as last season’s runners-up Racing Lens were beaten at Stade Brest after champions Paris St Germain had been held to a draw on Saturday.

AS Monaco and Toulouse were both away winners while Racing Strasbourg and Olympique de Marseille won at home on the opening weekend of the new French season.

Champions PSG, with former Spain coach Luis Enrique in charge for the first time and featuring six debutants, were held to a 0-0 stalemate by Lorient in an uninspiring start to the defence of their title.

But the outing was overshadowed by the absence of Kylian Mbappe, who had been in a contract stand-off and not trained with the squad. But he did return to training on Sunday after what PSG called "very constructive and positive discussions".

Lens, who finished a point behind PSG last season, were 2-0 up inside 22 minutes at Brest on Sunday but went on to lose 3-2 as Romain del Castillo netted two penalties for the hosts.

Rennes substitute Ibrahim Salah scored twice in the six minutes in which he played, adding to goals scored by Arnaud Kalimuendo, Amine Gouiri and Jeremy Doku as last season's fourth-placed side got off to an impressive start.

Patrick Vieira's tenure as coach at Strasbourg began on a winning note as second half goals from Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and South African international Lebo Mothiba saw them overcome Olympique Lyonnais 2-1.

Wissam Ben Yedder netted twice as he captained Monaco to a 4-2 success at Clermont Foot. It was new coach Adi Hutter's first game in charge of the principality club.

Toulouse, who thrashed Nantes 5-1 in last season's French Cup final, added more salt to the wound as Rasmus Nicolaisen's header