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| Saint Etienne Montpellier Assou Ekotto |
AS Saint-Etienne scored three late goals to sink Montpellier Hérault SC 3-0 at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard and get back on track in their bid for Europe.
AS Saint-Etienne 3 - 0 Montpellier Hérault SC 
Nolan Roux opened the
scoring for Les Verts in the 74th minute
and Saint-Etienne then ran away with the game as substitute Oussama Tannane
doubled their lead 10 minutes from time and Valentin Eysseric made sure of a
welcome win.
It was a first win in six Ligue 1 games for Christophe Galtier's
side and took them back to within three points of Stade Rennais FC, who had
moved provisionally into third spot with victory in Marseille on Friday.
For Montpellier, meanwhile, it was a second straight defeat that proves the honeymoon period is well and truly over for coach Frédéric Hantz as the southern side remain firmly in a relegation battle.
Montpellier were looking for a first win in Saint-Etienne since
October 1995 and they came closest to scoring in a first half of few chances
when Souleymane Camara's long-range strike was tipped over by Stéphane Ruffier.
At the other end, Jean-Christophe Bahebeck, one of eight players
brought into the Saint-Etienne team following last week's defeat at Guingamp,
had the ball in the net in first-half stoppage time only for the offside flag
to cut short the celebrations.
Scrappy opener
A good Laurent Pionnier save denied Roux on 65 minutes and there
was little to suggest that either side was about to run away with the game in
the final quarter. However, the hosts did precisely that after getting the
crucial opener.
It was a scrappy goal, as Kévin Monnet-Paquet failed to get his
shot away and Vitorino Hilton blocked Bahebeck's effort only for the ball to
loop up in the air for Roux to turn in his fifth of the season.
Roux turned provider as Sainté grabbed a killer second goal 10 minutes from time. The former Lille striker latched onto a quickly-taken
free-kick and delivered a low ball across the box for Tannane, the January
signing from Heracles Almelo, to finish first-time past Laurent Pionnier.
Eysseric then added the icing on the cake six minutes from the
end when the ball broke back to him 25 yards out and he controlled before
driving a low volley beyond Pionnier and into the far corner of the net
