Saint-Etienne moved into third place in the Ligue 1 table this evening after goals from Bayal Sall and Nolan Roux gave them a 2-1 away win over hosts Montpellier HSC.
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Montpellier arguably started as the better side and Kevin Berigaud almost made Etienne pay, only for the striker's effort to be kept out by a flawless Stephane Ruffier in the visitors' goal.
HSC found Ruffier in fantastic form as the keeper then went on to keep out two strong efforts from both Quentin Cornette and Hilton.
The saves seemed to spur Etienne on and they hit back to take the lead through Sall in the 25th minute, after the defender gambled on Kevin Monnet-Paquet's set-piece kick to convert beyond Jonathan Ligali.
After the break, the away side looked to finish things off as they found a second goal through Roux, after he broke onto Loic Perrin's through-ball to finish comfortably.
HSC established a tense finish to the game as they pulled a late goal back through Joris Marveaux, but the visitors held on to snatch all three points on the road.
Christopher Dodd
