Rennes missed the chance to leap into fourth place in Ligue 1 as nine men Angers held on to draw 1-1 at Roazhon Park.

A deserved first half goal from Giovanni Sio opened the scoring for the hosts, however, a late goal by substitute Nicolas Pele snatched a point for Angers. 

The game didn't go without its controversies with Angers receiving two red cards.

Romain Thomas was sent off on the hour mark and captain Cheikh Ndoye received his marching orders in second half toppage time. 

Dominant first half from Rennes 

Rennes started on the front foot from the off and took the game to midtable Angers.

Young Adrien Hunou, in for injured Paul-Georges Ntep, was giving his opponents a torrid time down the left flank and was the main creator for his team in the first half.

However, the opening goal was down to a piece of brilliance from attacking teammate Sio.

Following an impressive passing move, Sio was fed through on goal, rounding the keeper to slot from an acute angle.

The scorer revealed an undershirt which read 'RIP Pokou' in reference to recently deceased ex-Rennes striker Laurent Pokou.

This was a first half to forget for Angers as they didn't threaten Benoit Costil whatsoever and looked ahead to a doomed second half. 

Positives and negatives for visitors 

Angers emerged for the second half full of vitality and hope in a bid to regain confidence for what seemed a straightforward win for the leaders.

However, Pierrick Capelle had other plans as his thunderous shot early on stung the hands of Costil who dropped the shot.

Unfortunately for Angers things went from bad to worse as Thomas pulled back Sio as he was breaking into the box and received a yellow card for his actions. 

With one shot on target from Rennes at this stage, Angers would have thought a way back into the game was more than likely.

This proved to be true when they drew the game level on 82 minutes through Pepe.

Capitalising on a mistake at the back by Pedro Mendes, Angers were able to press and release the scorer to curl the ball into the net.

An attempt at a familiar last gasp Rennes winner by entering zero goal striker Kermit Erasmus into the game didn't come up trumps as the South African was largely quiet following his entrance.

Near the end of the game Angers went down to nine men when captain Ndoye was sent off for an apparent lunge on Mendes.

The draw means Rennes drop a place to sixth while Angers are on 10th, three points ahead of Dijon.