Good evening and welcome to Sports Mole's live coverage of the Ligue 1 game between St-Etienne and Nancy at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.
St-Etienne are 11th in the league standings after seven rounds of matches with eight points, while Nancy are second from bottom with four.
Both sides will seek maximum points this evening, with the home side starting the game as favourites.
This promises to be an interesting clash and you can follow all the action live here on this page.
9.37pmIn the end, St-Etienne failed to add to their tally in the second half. A double from Brandao and further goals from Romain Hamouma and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the first 25 minutes were enough for St-Etienne to register a 4-0 victory over Nancy at home. I hope that you enjoyed our live coverage of this Ligue 1 game. Have a good evening.
90+3minsThe referee blows the full-time whistle and brings the game to an end. It has finished 4-0 to St-Etienne tonight.
90+2minsGradel takes a fierce shot that Gregorini parries away for a corner. That was a very good save.
90minsThe fourth official has awarded three minutes of injury time. Three more minutes for Brandao to complete his hat-trick, three more minutes for Nancy to suffer the agony.
88minsJust two minutes remain in this fixture. Can Brandao bag his hat-trick?
87minsSUBSTITUTION: Kurt Zouma comes off for St-Etienne, as Bayal Sall comes on.
86minsSpeaking of Brandao, he was almost released down the right, but failed to reach to the ball in time.
85minsFive minutes remain in this Ligue 1 encounter. It remains 4-0 to St-Etienne, and Brandao is still searching for his third goal of the evening.
80minsFree kick to the hosts, as Hamouma is once again brought down just outside the Nancy penalty area. Gradel takes the set piece, but Gregorini makes the save.
78minsThere is precious little happening in the match at the moment. St-Etienne are playing the ball around inside the Nancy half, trying to find a way through to their fifth goal of the evening. Brandao is still on a hat-trick, remember.
76minsSUBSTITUTION. Yohann Mollo comes on for Djamel Bakar, who has been largely anonymous tonight.
75minsJust around 15 minutes remain in this Ligue 1 fixture that St-Etienne have virtually pocketed.
73minsThe match has gone a bit flat now, as both sets of players must be getting tired. It has been non-stop action tonight, especially from St-Etienne, who have looked vastly superior to their relegation-threatened visitors.
72minsSUBSTITUTION: St-Etienne make another change, as Fabien Lemoine comes in for Joshua Guilavogui.
68minsRED CARD! Zenke has been shown a straight red for his rash challenge on Faouzi Ghoulam. Nancy are down to 10 men besides being 4-0 down.
67minsKaraboue gallops down the left flank and takes a low shot at the St-Etienne goal, but it is nicely saved by Ruffier.
64minsSUBSTITUTION. St-Etienne make a change, as Max-Alain Gradel comes on for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Aubameyang scored his side?s fourth goal of the evening in the 25th minute.
63minsAnd come to think of it, except for that last chance, Brandao has been largely anonymous in the second half.
62minsBrandao goes close again, as he heads a corner towards the Nancy goal but fails to keep it on target. He is still searching for his third goal of the evening.
60minsHalf an hour left in this match. The game was effectively over as a contest long time back, but both sides are doing their best to add to the scoreline.
58minsHamouma goes close once again as he runs with the ball down the middle, but is eventually dispossessed and earns a corner that yields nothing productive for St-Etienne.
56minsBut they cannot as the free kick is poor and easily cleared away by Nancy.
55minsFree kick to St-Etienne just outside the Nancy penalty area, as Hamouma is pulled down. Very good position for the hosts to make it 5-0...
53minsSUBSTITUTION. There was a substitution at the break for Nancy. Jordan Loties came in for Benjamin Moukandjo.
50minsFive minutes gone in the second half now, and it stays 4-0 to St-Etienne. Both sides have started the match looking to add to the scoreline, which is something positive.
48minsJeremy Clement takes a fierce attempt on the Nancy goal from outside the area, but it goes narrowly wide. It had Gregorini stretched really.
47minsNancy on the attack straightaway, as a low left-wing cross is drilled in that Simon Zenke tries to slot home from just yards out, but his attempt is smothered.
46minsAnd here we start with the second-half action...
8.37pmHere is the story of the first 45 minutes. Nancy started the brighter of the two teams and hit the post in the eighth minute. But thereafter, it was all St-Etienne. Brandao scored in the ninth minute and then again in the 21st minute, with a Romain Hamouma header sandwiched in between making it 3-0 to the hosts. Then Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who has been brilliant in this game, found the target in the 25th minute.
45+1minsThere goes the half-time whistle, as the first half comes to an end.
43minsAubameyang almost scores his second goal of the evening, as he takes a swing from inside the area, but Gregorini makes a brilliant save.
42minsThomas Mangani is teed up the ball in a brilliant position on the edge of the St-Etienne penalty box, but his shot is sensationally blocked by Kurt Zouma.
42minsThomas Mangani is teed up the ball in a brilliant position on the edge of the St-Etienne penalty box, but his shot is sensationally blocked by Kurt Zouma.
41minsFour minutes to half-time now, and Nancy are on course to ending it on a stronger note. They started the match the better of the two sides too, but that appears a long way off.
40minsAnother corner for the visitors. Another unsuccessful attempt to pull one back, this time the ball is cleared off the line.
38minsNancy have not given up altogether, it seems, as they go on the attack once again and earn themselves a corner. However, Stephane Ruffier collects the set piece with ease.
36minsNancy force the hosts into conceding a corner, but fail to construct anything productive from it. It remains 4-0 to St-Etienne.
33minsBrandao is on a hat-trick at the moment. He must certainly fancy finding the target for the third time tonight.
31minsBrandao forces Gregorini into a good save from close range, as he gets at the end of a loose ball and then tries to curl it into the top corner.
30minsSUBSTITUTION! Nancy make their first change of the match, as Vincent Muratori comes off and on comes Thomas Mangani.
27minsIt is getting embarrassing now for relegation-threatened Nancy. Christophe Galtier's side are pretty much doing what they fancy, as the visitors are utterly deflated.
24minsGOAL! Aubameyang makes it 4-0 to the hosts now! Cohade finds Aubameyang with a long ball from inside his own half, and the latter makes no mistake in getting his nicely taken attempt past Damien Gregorini.
22minsWe are midway through the first half now, but you would be pardoned to believe that St-Etienne have all but wrapped up the points. All three goals have come from close range headers.
21minsGOAL! Brandao scores St-Etienne?s third goal of the game and makes it 3-0 to the home side. Aubameyang does most of the hard work down the right bye-line and floats in a cross that Brandao heads home from just yards out.
19minsGOAL! Romain Hamouma heads home a cross from Renaud Cohade the left flank to make it 2-0 to St-Etienne. It was a free header from Hamouma as the Nancy defence failed to pick him.
15mins15 minutes gone in the match and St-Etienne are all over Nancy. The visitors started the better of the two teams, but that spell lasted for just six or so minutes. It has been all St-Etienne since then.
14minsSt-Etienne are dominating proceedings at the moment and are pressing themselves on the Nancy defence. The visitors have been forced to go back and defend deep.
12minsThe hosts come close again, as Josua Guilavogui tries his luck from inside the Nancy penalty area, but fails to keep his shot on target.
9minsGOAL! Brandao scores with a close range header from a Jonathan Brison cross and makes it 1-0 to St-Etienne.
8minsBenjamin Moukandjo hits the post now for Nancy! A defensive lapse sees him take a shot at the home side?s goal, but it hits the inside of the post and refuses to go in.
7minsBRANDAO! The first proper chance of the game falls to the home side, as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gallops down the left flank and floats in a brilliant cross that Brandao fails to keep on target. He was just yards out! How could he miss that!
6minsNancy have looked the more threatening side in these opening six or so minutes, as they are winning the battles in the midfield and then trying to press forward with the attack.
4minsLoosemy Karaboue tries to carve in through the middle for Nancy, but he is dispossessed of the ball by Kurt Zouma. The visitors earn a corner, but fail to create anything productive from it.
2minsSt-Etienne on the attack right from the start, as they try to create a chance from the left. But it is smothered early with Nancy averting any danger.
1minAnd the game kicks off...
7.40pmFive minutes left for kickoff at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in what promises to be an interesting match, with both sides expected to fight to the end for maximum points.
7.35pmNancy: Gregorini, Sami, Luiz, Haidara, Puygrenier, Karaboue, Sane, Muratori, Moukandjo, Bakar, Zenke
7.32pmSt-Etienne Starting Lineup: Ruffier, Zouma, Ghoulam, Brison, Perrin, Clement, Aubameyang, Guilavogui, Hamouma, Cohade, Brandao
7.30pmNancy are in an even dire state - Jean Fernandez?s side are second from bottom with just four points from seven games.
7.27pmHeading into the game St-Etienne find themselves 11th in the league table with eight points from seven matches, just three points above the relegation zone.
7.25pmHello and welcome to Sport Mole's live coverage of the Ligue 1 game between St-Etienne and Nancy. This promises to be a very interesting match, and you can catch all the action here.
Written by
Subhankar Mondal
Subhankar Mondal
