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Goals in either half from midfielders Kim Kallstrom and Yoann Gourcuff gave Rennes a priceless 2-0 away win over nine-man Monaco and plunged the principality club deeper into crisis.
When Didier Deschamps saw Spanish midfielder Gerard's 17th-minute opener ruled out for a imaginary off-side decision he may have thought he was going to have one of those days where everything goes wrong... he's been having rather a few lately.
Despite dominating the opening exchanges in front of a sceptical Stade Louis II crowd, Monaco were once again behind on the scoreboard after 36 minutes when Kallstrom reacted quickest to a loose ball in the six-yard box and the Swede buried his shot past Guillaume Warmuz in the Monaco goal.
Kallstrom's goal, Rennes first away from their Stade de la Route de Lorient this season, only proved to underline the psychological fragility which has recently engulfed Monaco. The hosts immediately seemed lost, unable to make a simple pass and each technical error was met with a shower of whistles from the terraces.
The homeside's task was made all the harder when Greek midfielder Andreas Zikos was sent-off shortly after the break for arguing with the referee, Mr Ledentu.
Rennes profited almost immediately when John Utaka allowed Swedish recruit Erik Edman's cross to skim all the way through to Gourcuff, unmarked with time and space to pick his spot against the abandoned Warmuz.
Mr Ledentu then ensured he would not be on Deschamps' Christmas card list when he gave Monaco defender Sébastien Squillaci a straight red card for a foul on Utaka on 66 minutes.
Rennes comfortably controlled the closing stages against nine men to register their second win of the campaign just three days after their morale-boosting 3-1 win over Osasuna in the UEFA Cup.
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