Saint-Etienne hammer Nice to go fourth

Saint-Etienne moved up to fourth in the Ligue 1 table with a 5-0 win over Nice this afternoon.

Loic Perrin opened the scoring on 25 minutes when he met Max Gradel's inswinging corner with a diving header.

Jeremy Clement doubled the hosts' advantage five minutes before the break with a low effort from the edge of the box.

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Les Verts were three goals to the good just after the hour mark when Melvut Erdinc escaped the attention of Jordan Amavi before firing in at the near post.

Gradel made it four with six minutes remaining courtesy of an emphatic finish after a poor clearance from Mouez Hassen.

Kevin Monnet-Paquet then wrapped up the points with two minutes of normal time remaining to send the home side to within two points of third-placed Monaco in France's top division.