Despite a fiercely-contested opening 25 minutes, neither side was able to land a shot on target as quality was sorely lacking in the final third.
That all changed midway through the half, as Soriba Diaoune lit up Roazhon Park with a moment of genuine quality.
Perhaps there was an element of luck as the ball ricocheted back to him after an attempted one-two with Ethan Mbappe, but he showed a moment of brilliance to curl his first league goal of the season into the bottom corner past the despairing dive of Brice Samba.
That proved to be a wake-up call for the home side, and they struck back just after the half-hour mark.
Aboubakar Nagida showed outstanding perseverance to chase down his own mishit shot that was heading for a throw-in, before curling in a tantalising cross which Abdelhamid Ait Boudlal flicked into the six-yard box for Boulaye Dia to guide home.
Rennes then seized the momentum and dominated going into half-time, but had to settle for going in level at the break.
Unfortunately for the hosts, they couldn’t carry that momentum into the second half as both teams largely cancelled each other out.
Samba did have to look sharp just after the restart, however, with a reflex save at the near post to turn Calvin Verdonk’s snapshot wide. With just over 20 minutes to go, Lille hit the front again.
Valentin Rongier was guilty of overplaying in his own box as he inexplicably tried to dribble his way out of trouble, and Nathan Ngoy made him pay with a powerful finish into the bottom corner.
Les Rennais threw everything forward in the final 10 minutes looking for a leveller… The victory extends Lille’s unbeaten run to five games in Ligue 1 (W3, D2) as they move into second, just two points behind leaders PSG.
Rennes sit five points behind in fifth, and have now lost four of their last six in the league, and they could fall further down the table depending on results elsewhere.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Abdelhamid Ait Boudlal (Stade Rennais)
