Goals from Mexer, Sylvain Armand and Abdoulaye Doucoure ensured that Rennes defeated struggling Lorient 3-0 in Ligue 1 this evening to go ninth in the table.

After a positive start, Rennes took the lead in the 17th minute through Mexer, who leapt to meet an inviting cross from Paul-Georges Ntep and head past Benjamin Lecomte.

Lamine Kone threatened to double the visitors' advantage moments later, only for Lecomte to pull off a strong save down low at his bottom-left corner.

The Lorient keeper appeared in good form, but he was powerless to stop Rennes from grabbing a second goal before half time as Armand produced a second headed goal for the visitors after running onto Pedro Henrique's cross after 43 minutes.

Rennes put the game to bed early in the second half thanks to more productive work from the busy Ntep, who led a fast counter-attacking move to supply Doucoure.