Rennes held Saint-Etienne to a goalless draw in this afternoon's Ligue 1 encounter at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.
After a cagey start to the match, Rennes almost scored the opener in the 36th minute when Pedro Henrique collected Ola Toivonen's pass and fired against the post.
Moments later the hosts won a penalty when Mevlut Erding was brought down in the area by Cheikh M'Bengue. The Turkish forward stepped up to take the spot kick, but was denied by Benoit Costil in the Rennes goal.
After the break, Erding was replaced by Norwich City loanee Ricky van Wolfswinkel, but neither he or Max Gradel could make the breakthrough in the closing stages.
The draw ends Saint-Etienne's 100% start to the season and also sees their six-game winning streak in Ligue 1, stretching back to last season, extinguished.
Les Verts are now second in the table, while Rennes climb up to seventh.
Pascal Lemesre
