Saint-Etienne beats Valenciennes 2-1 in France

Posted Sunday, March 11, 2012 by YAHOO Sport

PARIS (AP)—Saint-Etienne put pressure on defending champion Lille in the race for a Champions League spot by coming from behind to beat Valenciennes 2-1 in the French league on Saturday.

Saint-Etienne winger Bakary Sako scored the winner in the 77th minute, following up to find the net after Laurent Batlles had hit the post.

Valenciennes striker Vincent Aboubakar put the hosts ahead by converting a cross from Foued Kadir in the 69th. But Gabon forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang got his 11th goal this season to level for Saint-Etienne in the 73rd.

Both teams spent most of the match down to 10 men.

Valenciennes midfielder Carlos Sanchez was sent off in the third minute for a violent tackle on Saint-Etienne midfielder Fabien Lemoine.

Saint-Etienne defender Jean-Pascal Mignot was red-carded in the 32nd for fouling Kadir, who was bearing down on goal.

Saint-Etienne pulled within a point of third-place Lille, which played Lyon later Saturday.

Also Saturday, it was: Toulouse 1, Lorient 1; Brest 0, Bordeaux 2; Evian 2, Sochaux 3; and Nice 1, Nancy 1.

League leader Paris Saint-Germain visits Dijon on Sunday, when second-place Montpellier hosts Caen and Rennes faces Auxerre.

In Toulouse on Saturday, the hosts took the lead with an own goal from Lorient fullback Lucas Mareque, who turned into his own net a cross from Franck Tabanou in the 51st.

But Lorient striker Innocent Emeghara collected a through ball from Sigamary Diarra and beat Toulouse goalkeeper Ali Ahamada for the equalizer in the 61st.

Bordeaux striker Yoan Gouffran raised his tally to nine goals this season by converting a rebound in the 35th after Michael Ciani had hit the post. Czech midfielder Jaroslav Plasil doubled the lead with a header in the 48th.

In Evian, Cedric Mongongu converted a penalty for the hosts in the 25th after Saber Khelifa was fouled inside the area, but Sochaux leveled in the 30th with an own goal from Evian defender Brice Dja Djedje.

Vincent Nogueira scored from a tight angle to give Sochaux a 2-1 lead in the 44th. Sochaux striker Edouard Butin intercepted a backpass from Cedric Cambon to make it 3-1 in the 66th.

Cambon headed in a corner to pull one back for Evian in the 70th.

In Nice, Franck Dja Djedje took a pass from winger Anthony Mounier to level for the hosts from close range in the 37th after Nancy forward Daniel Niculae headed in a free kick from Yohan Mollo in the 13th.