Anders Konradsen was the man to thank for Stade Rennais as his late goal gave the Bretons the victory against Nice- coming from a goal down in the first half.
Going into the game, hosts Rennes made some changes to their more familiar starting 11. Midfielder, Aboulaye Doucoure, was suspended for the tie whereas striker Ola Toivonen was sidelined due to injury. Replacing them was Sanjin Prcic and Habib Habibou. Also in for Rennes was Polish winger, Kamil Grosicki, who has impressed from the bench in recent matches.
It was to be the visitors, Nice, who were to start the strongest of the two sides- hitting the post early on. Furthermore, a lack of communication between Rennes keeper, Benoit Costil, and Romain Danze at the back put the home side under immense pressure, yet the mistake wasn't punished.
Nice were soon ahead through Eric Bautheac as he met a cutback along the six yard box from Alassane Plea. Poor defending from Rennes coupled with Plea's intricate movement in the box created enough space for the midfielder to play in the scorer to notch home from close range.
The Route de Lorient got more aggrivated as the match went on as Paul-Georges Ntep was denied a penalty by the referee. The lively winger made his way into the Nice box and went over under the challenge of Romain Genevois but the referee waved away Ntep's claim.
Nice could have doubled their lead before the break had Costil not pulled off a world class stop from the close range strike. Faultless build-up play from the visitors ended with Carlos Eduardo one-on-one, however the Brazilian was shocked to see Costil's strong hand parry away his hit.
Rennes regained some dominance in the second half and struck almost instantly through Sanjin Prcic. The scorer produced striker-like instincts to position himself into a tight space in the box, Grosicki threaded a precise pass to the Bosnian who struck to the far corner past a helpless Pouplin.
With the game level, Rennes continued to be the better team throughout the half. Habib Habibou, Paul-Georges Ntep and Kamil Grosicki all had efforts in quick succession at goal, yet couldn't find the net.
Following a collision in the box, Simon Pouplin, the Nice goalkeeper, was replaced by Joris Delle. As the injured keeper made way, he was met with a standing ovation from the stadium as the Rennes fans clapped off their ex player.
In a strange sequence of circumstances, Bautheac had the ball in the net once again, however the referee disallowed the goal- leaving much confusion. There didn't appear to be an offside decision against the scorer, however he was jostling with Danze as he hit his shot, but not enough to disallow the goal.
As the Nice faithful were left scratching their heads, it was soon to be their opposite supporters left pondering. After a successful passing move by the hosts, Benjamin Andre met an Ntep cutback from deep inside the post but was denied by a superb save by Delle.
A few minutes before the break the all important winning goal was scored by Rennes in more bizarre circumstances. Following a cleared cross, substitute, Anders Konradsen picked up the ball from 30 yards- his miss hit attempt at a cross miraculously ended up dipping into the net at the far post.
The win puts Rennes a point behind eighth placed Lille who were demolished by PSG earlier in the day. Nice remain grounded at 12th place, a point ahead of battlers Bastia. Nice play Caen in their next fixture, whereas Rennes travel south to Montpellier.