The Ligue 1  tie between Angers and Rennes ended scoreless with the visitors going down to 10 men late in the game. 

The hosts had the lion's share of chances, but the sending off of Ludovic Baal in the 85th minute didn't really tip the scale in either teams' favour. 

A debut was handed to Rennes attacker Firmin Mubélé but he was unable to have an impact on the match. 

Animated throughout the 94 minutes of play, Angers manager Stéphane Moulin would be the least happy of the two managers for not taking advantage of the extra man in the closing proceedings.

Angers don't make chances count

The home side had their best spell of the game during the first half, possessing the better chances between the two teams.

Angers captain Cheikh Ndoye arguably had the best chance of the half when he rose above the rest inside the box to head at goal only for Benoit Costil to tip the ball over the bar.  

Pierrick Capelle also went close when his low drive from distance whistled inches by Costil's left post. 

The best the visitors could muster was a Yoann Gourcuff curled shot inside the box which was diverted out by Ismaël Traore. 

Almost a smash and grab for 10 man Rennes 

Rennes stopper Costil showed fantastic reactions to stop Ndoye getting the opener when he saved a powerful strike from point blank range. 

Rennes finally made Angers keeper work in the 79th minute when Giovanni Sio's free kick from distance made Mathieu Michel scramble across his goal line to deny the Ivorian. 

The best chance of the game, however, fell to Angers sub Nicolas Pepe, who found himself in acres of space but could only stab the ball wide of the target. 

Five minutes before the regulatory 90, Rennes found themselves down to 10 men after left-back Baal fouled Pepe in the centre of the pitch.

In almost dramatic fashion, the depleted visitors could have stolen the game right at the death when Sio turned a shot at the near post only to be stopped by the acrobatics of Michel. 

It's four games unbeaten in Ligue 1 for Christian Gourcuff's Rennes but the overall picture shows eight games without a win. 

Angers would have liked a win from this fixture as they are stuck third from bottom. 

At the weekend the Bretons host high-flying Nice at Roazhon Park while Angers contest a trip to Lille.