French champions Paris St-Germain (PSG) on Sunday earned their third successive Ligue 1 win, after their opening two defeats.
Argentine striker Mauro Icardi scored twice to give them a 2-0 win at struggling Reims.
The result lifted PSG to seventh place on nine points from five games, four behind leaders Rennes, while Reims stayed 19th on one point.
Icardi fired the visitors ahead in the ninth minute with a crisp low shot into the far corner from 10 metres after a perfect assist by Kylian Mbappe.
Reims goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic then kept the home side afloat with several fine saves.
Neymar spurned a gilt-edged chance in the 43rd minute when he shot wide after beating three defenders with a dazzling solo run.
The hosts missed their best opportunity on the hour when substitute Boulaye Dia hit the post.
They were punished barely a minute later as good work by Mbappe and Julian Draxler left Icardi with a simple finish.
Mbappe notched his second assist of the night, exchanging a one-two with Draxler before squaring the ball to Icardi for a tap-in from close range into an empty net.
Rajkovic produced another fine stop midway through the second half to deny .
The France forward was guilty of poor finishing in the 82nd minute as he shot wide with only the goalkeeper to beat after a fast break.
Pablo Sarabia blazed a shot over the bar and Neymar’s free-kick sailed inches wide in the closing stages.
Earlier on Sunday, Wissam Ben Yedder scored twice in Monaco’s 3-2 win over visiting Strasbourg, with the home side having Aurelien Tchouameni and Axel Disasi sent off in the second half.
Last season’s UEFA Champions League semi-finalists Olympique Lyonnais continued their patchy start with a 1-1 draw at 16th-placed Lorient which left them 11th on six points.
Reuters
