Monaco commanding French league after beating Rennes

PARIS (AP) — U.S. striker Folarin Balogun scored for a third straight game then left the game injured as Monaco seized command of the French league by winning at Rennes 2-1 on Saturday.

Balogun netted the winner in the 22nd minute but was forced off after the hour mark with an apparent shoulder issue. It was unclear whether he would be able to join the U.S. squad ahead of matches against Panama and Mexico.

Unbeaten Monaco suffered throughout the second half but kept its small advantage intact to move to the top of the table. Lagging three points behind, Paris Saint-Germain can close the gap in Nice on Sunday.

Thilo Kehrer put the visitors in front in the sixth minute and Ludovic Blas leveled for Rennes just five minutes later.

Balogun was picked out by Eliesse Ben Seghir with a low pass on the edge of the box. He quickly turned and accelerated to lose his marker before finishing with a fine left-footed chip over goalkeeper Steve Mandanda.

Blas' goal was impressive too; a 25-meter strike that left Monaco goalkeeper Philipp Köhn no chance.

Davitashvili's hat-trick

Georgia international Zuriko Davitashvili scored a hat trick to lead struggling Saint-Etienne to its second win, 3-1 against Auxerre.

Saint-Etienne moved to 12th place, one point above Auxerre.

Davitashvili joined from Bordeaux this summer as Saint-Etienne prepared to return to the top-flight following a two-year absence. The highly rated winger delivered two assists but failed to score in his first six matches.

A former powerhouse of French soccer, 10-time champion Saint-Etienne has struggled to readjust to the requirements of the elite and was trounced 8-0 by Nice last month.

Davitashvili put the host ahead in the 15th minute with a powerful strike that capped a fine collective move with Léo Pétrot and Mathis Amougou. He made it 2-0 after the interval and hit the post before Canadian forward Thelonius Blair pulled one back with his first goal this season.

Davitashvili kept his cool on the counter when he chipped the goalkeeper to achieve the hat trick with four minutes left.

Davitashvili became only the second Georgian player to score a hat trick in one of Europe's top five leagues in this century. The other was Alexander Iashvili for Freiburg against Wolfsburg in 2003.

“It was a very incredible day,” Davitashvili said.

He was a member of the Georgia team which reached the European Championship last 16 this summer and produced a 2-0 upset win over Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal. His deal with Saint-Etienne runs until 2028, with an optional extra year.

Bouaddi shines for Lille

Lille followed its historic Champions League win against Real Madrid by topping Toulouse 2-1.

Lille was sluggish in the the first half and Toulouse deservedly took the lead in the 39th when Zakaria Aboukhlal's angled shot was parried by goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier but crossed the line.

Chevalier, who was decisive against Madrid, made a crucial save in the 47th to keep Lille in the match before Angel Gomes leveled with the outside of his foot from Osame Sahraoui's subtly chipped assist.

Up-and-coming midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi then showed his class. On the counter, the 17-year-old midfielder beat an opponent with a two-touch dribble and delivered a laser through ball to set up Mitchel Bakker in the 75th.

Lille moved to fourth place, eight points above 16th-placed Toulouse, which slumped to a third consecutive loss.

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