Nice lose ground on Monaco after Rennes stalemate

Le Gym came from two goal down to secure a draw on Sunday

PARIS: Nice’s hopes of securing a league title suffered a major blow as they fell five points behind leaders Monaco despite rallying from two goals down in Sunday's 2-2 draw at Rennes.

First-half strikes from Morgan Amalfitano and Giovanni Sio left Rennes on course for a first win in nine matches, but Valentin Eysseric set up Anastasios Dosis to pull one back on the hour mark.

Eysseric then raced clear as Nice caught Rennes on the counter-attack to equalise nine minutes from time with the visitors salvaging a point in the absence of an unwell Mario Balotelli.

However, Lucien Favre's side, who topped the table at the start of the year, have won just twice in their last seven matches to leave aspirations of upstaging Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain looking increasingly remote.

"I think it's a good point. We were squeezed like lemons, and they did it very well," Favre said of the home side's suffocating tactics.

"Psychologically it's important to come back from 2-0 down to 2-2. At the end we could have even done more but they also had chances on the counter... if you concede a third, it's all over."