Nice vs St Etienne. French Ligue 1.
Municipal du Ray.
Saturday 20 October 2012 23:55, UK
Nice were left rueing a late missed penalty as the Ligue 1 match against St Etienne finished 1-1.
Nice were left rueing a late missed penalty as the Ligue 1 match against St Etienne finished level at the Stade Municipal du Ray. Eric Bautheac gave Nice a 28th-minute lead, which was cancelled out by Brandao's goal 14 minutes from time. Although the visitors had most of the chances thereafter, the hosts had a chance to win the contest in the 84th minute - but Dario Cvitanich blasted a penalty wide. Les Verts had two chances to take the lead inside the first 20 minutes. In the 17th minute Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang headed Jonathan Brison's cross goalwards but Lloyd Palun cleared the effort off the line, via a post. Two minutes later Brison and Aubameyang combined again for Fabien Lemoine to shoot powerfully - but this time goalkeeper Joris Delle denied him. The hosts made the most of the escapes, taking the lead with their only noteworthy chance of the first half. Cvitanich found Jeremy Pied - and his cross was tapped in at the far post by Bautheac. In the 32nd minute Nemanja Pejcinovic blocked Aubameyang's powerful shot - and soon after Delle did well to block Kurt Zouma's close-range header. St Etienne maintained the pressure in the second half, with Delle saving Lemoine's curling effort soon after the restart. Camel Meriem brought a rare save out of goalkeeper Stephane Ruffier at the other end - but Brandao was denied before the visitors made their pressure pay when Renaud Cohade flicked the ball goalwards for Brandao to equalise from six yards. However, the home side came closest to winning the contest when Jeremy Clement was penalised for fouling Valentin Eysseric in the box - but Cvitanich wasted the spot-kick.
