Stade Rennais became unofficial 'Breton Champions' after they defeated local rivals EA Guingamp by a slender one goal margin thanks to Ola Toivonen.
The game's character was split in two halves with the first being tiresome to an extent with both teams trying to work each other out, whereas the second 45 seemed more derby like as both teams showed immense passion.
Rennes could have had the best start to the game when Pedro Henrique was played through one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Unfortunately, the Brazilian winger was offside as the ball was played to him.
Rennes built up impressive possession statistics in the first half with its peak hitting a Barcelona esq 72%, however the Rouges et Noirs couldn't fathom the important chance to score.
If it hadn't been for a late interception by Jérémy Pied as Doucoure was setting himself for a shot at goal, Rennes would have been in front.
The away side weren't doing much damage at all to their opponents- their best chance came from Lionel Mathis who made Costil scramble across goal to get important hand onto his shot from outside the box.
Yet to find a goal themseleves, Rennes pushed Guingamp close with fluent build-up play. Collecting a second ball, Paul-Georges Ntep gave Jonas Lössl his first important stop as his rushed shot was held by the keeper.
In the second half, Guingamp started the better of the two teams. Sylvain Armand, the veteran Rennes centre back, almost put his team behind but was fortunate to see his block from a shot just go over the bar.
Rennes regained their dominance as the second half progressed. Pedro Henrique and Ola Toivonen had headers go untroubled for Guingamp. Henrique was soon replaced by Poland international Kamil Grosicki who has barely featured this season due to injury.
Guingamp's Thibault Giresse was stretchered off after picking up a painful injury. Fortunately, he managed to hobble around half of the pitch- it's too early to know if he'll miss the rest of the season. He was replaced by Mustapha Yatabaré.
Rennes went up the gears and manufactured better chances than they did in the first half. Ola Toivonen was left bemused after Lössl pulled off a world class stop to deny him from close range. He would also have been relieved to see the offside flag raised against him.
The derby feeling was installed into the game as the match seen it's red card. In a 50-50 challenge, substitute Yatabaré left his foot in the ankle of Cheikh M'Bengue, leaving both men grounded. Some say Yatabaré shouldn't have received marching orders, but Rennes will feel differently having seen a similar incident go against them against Bastia earlier in the season.
Rennes finally got in front on 80 minutes through Swedish striker Ola Toivonen. Grosicki played a superb cross into the box; Toivonen got around his marker, Kerbat and got a strong ankle on the ball to exquisitely finish off the inside post and into the net.
That was to be Toivonen's final involvement in the match as he was replaced by Habib Habibou. In similar circumstances to Toivonen's earlier miss in front of Lössl, the keeper produced the same outcome this time to prevent the substitute doubling Rennes' lead.
The win leaves Rennes undefeated against their three Breton neighbours with the fans crowning them the 'Brittany Champions'. Guingamp are still not safe from a relegation scare as they are four points of a rejuvinated Toulouse side.
Guingamp's next game is a home tie against Evian whereas Rennes have a tough trip to Monaco to contend with.