Sepe Elye Wahi scores three as Nice beat Rennes 5-2

Nice beat Rennes 5-2 at Allianz Riviera, with Sepe Elye Wahi’s three goals providing the decisive edge. The result followed a match in which Rennes had more possession and attempts, but Nice produced the clearer attacking outcome and led 3-1 at half-time.

Wahi leads Nice’s scoring burst

Wahi opened the scoring with a penalty in the 12th minute for 1-0. Rennes levelled three minutes later when Sebastian Szymański scored a normal goal assisted by Mahamadou Nagida, making it 1-1. Wahi restored Nice’s lead from the penalty spot in the 34th minute, before Jonathan Clauss scored a normal goal assisted by Wahi in the 45th minute for 3-1.

Mohamed Amoura extended Nice’s advantage to 4-1 with a normal goal assisted by Sofiane Diop in the 52nd minute. Boulaye Dia converted Rennes’ penalty in the 58th minute to make it 4-2, but Wahi completed his hat-trick with a normal goal assisted by Gauthier Hein in the 73rd minute, producing the final 5-2 score.

Rennes had the ball but Nice had the margin

Rennes recorded 54% possession, 18 total shots and nine shots on goal, compared with Nice’s 46%, 17 shots and eight on goal. Nice nevertheless had the higher expected-goals figure, 3.47 to Rennes’ 2.66, while Rennes’ 397 accurate passes exceeded Nice’s 340.

Seven yellow cards were shown in the match, including three in the 84th minute. Anthony Rouault, Charlie Cresswell and Mahdi Camara were booked for Rennes; Sepe Elye Wahi, Mohamed Abdelmoneim, Youssouf Ndayishimiye and Mohamed Amoura received Nice’s four cautions.

Nice close the gap on Rennes

Wahi was the standout performer, earning a 9.0 rating after three goals, one assist and four shots on target in 85 minutes. Nice moved from 11 points before the match to 14 after nine games and now trail league leaders Paris Saint Germain by three points. Rennes remain provisionally #2 on 16 points, one behind Paris Saint Germain and two ahead of Nice.