Nice 2 - 0 Saint-Etienne: Nice steal march on indisciplined St Etienne in race for Europe

Posted Sunday, May 08, 2016 by PA

Valere Germain grabbed a late brace to keep Nice in the race for a Champions League place with a 2-0 win over nine-man St Etienne.

Germain's double means that the hosts moved within two points of Monaco, who suffered a humiliating 6-1 defeat at Lyon, while St Etienne's chances of finishing in third place ended thanks to the loss.

The hosts thought they had secured a much-needed opener just after the quarter-hour mark when Paul Baysse headed Hatem Ben Arfa's delivery beyond Stephane Ruffier at the second attempt, but the linesman's flag went up to cut short any celebrations.

Les Verts' best chance of the opening half came on the half-hour mark when Franck Tabanou picked out Nolan Roux with a corner but the former Lille striker's header was cleared off the line.

Not to be outdone, the hosts were gifted with a decent opportunity just before the break when Benoit Assou-Ekotto's wastefulness allowed Germain in but Alassane Plea was unable to convert his pass, much to the former Tottenham defender's relief.

The chances of Les Verts keeping a seventh successive clean sheet took a major blow on 54 minutes when Kevin Malcuit was given his marching orders for a second yellow card in a matter of minutes following a foul on Plea.

Nice looked to take full advantage of the extra man and only a superb reflex save from Ruffier prevented Germain from opening the scoring on 72 minutes after Plea had picked him out.

St Etienne found themselves down to nine men when Tabanou was dismissed for kicking out - ASSE's third red card in two games, with Loic Perrin suspended here after being sent off against Toulouse.

That was all the help Nice needed and with six minutes left to play, Germain eventually got a deserved opener, converting Plea's delivery beyond Ruffier despite being surrounded a host of St Etienne defenders.

Then, with added time looming, Germain got his second of the game after latching on to Mahamane Traore's perfectly-weighted pass.