Radamel Falcao on Wednesday rescued struggling AS Monaco in Ligue 1 with two second-half goals in a 2-2 draw at Stade Rennais.
It could prove a vital point, as Monaco moved up to 16th place and four points outside the relegation zone with four games left.
Rennes on Saturday last week won a dramatic Coupe de France final, beating Paris Saint-Germain in a penalty shoot-out after coming back from 2-0 midway through the first half.
Rennes raced to a 2-0 lead after nine minutes, slicing open Monaco’s defense with ease through quick moves, both finished off by Adrien Hunou.
However, Monaco hit back through Falcao’s diving header in the 69th and superb scissor-kick volley six minutes later.
It increased the veteran Colombian striker’s league tally to 14 goals in a difficult season that has seen Monaco twice change coach.
Monaco still have a difficult end to the league campaign, with fourth-placed AS Saint-Etienne visiting on Sunday and tough trips to Nimes Olympique and local rivals OGC Nice to follow after that.
Rennes are in 11th place and have qualified for the UEFA Europa League thanks to their Coupe de France win.
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Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
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