Championship outsiders AS Monaco and Saint-Etienne have entered the interval of their Ligue 1 clash still level at 0-0.
Both sides won their three most recent games prior to the international break to suggest that they could rival Marseille, Lyon and leaders Paris Saint-Germain for the title.
With the stakes high, the opening 45 minutes at Stade Louis II was predictably cagey as Monaco dominated possession and Saint-Etienne threatened on the counter-attack.
Les Verts had the best two chances of the first half as Kevin Monnet-Paquet forced Danijel Subasic to tip over the crossbar with a close-range shot and Mevlut Erding struck into the side-netting from a tight angle.
The Champions League quarter-finalists recalled former Manchester United forward Dimitar Berbatov to their starting XI, but the Bulgarian was quiet as Matheus Carvalho headed Monaco's only decent opportunity over the bar.
No Data Analysis info
