Ligue 1: St Etienne stay in European hunt with 2-0 win over Lorient

St Etienne kept their hopes of securing European football for next season very much alive with a 2-0 win over 10-man Lorient on Sunday.

Yohan Mollo opened the scoring for ASSE in the 74th minute before Max Gradel added the gloss with the second in the 90th minute after Didier Ndong had been sent off midway through the second half.

The result put St Etienne one point behind fourth-placed Monaco, who still have a game in hand, while Lorient remained two points above the bottom three.

It was a quiet opening to the encounter with the only real chance at goal in the first 15 minutes coming the hosts' way but Mevlut Erding could only head wide from Gradel's corner.

Lorient came to life soon after and Romain Philippoteaux burst into the Les Verts' area but, after beating Stephane Ruffier with an effort, Loic Perrin got back to clear the danger.

St Etienne responded and twice went close before the interval with Erding heading Gradel's free-kick wide before Romain Hamouma had the best chance of opening 45 minutes when Gradel's delivery found the former Caen winger at the far post but his diving header was plucked out of the air by Benjamin Lecomte.

Philloppoteaux went close again for Lorient soon after the restart but the transfer window signing lashed his shot just wide of the post.

At the other end Jeremy Clement brought a decent save from Lecomte after Hamouma's blocked shot fell his way before the game was turned on its head at 67 minutes when Lorient's Ndong was given his marching orders for a second yellow following a foul on Benjamin Corgnet.

St Etienne wasted no time in making full use of the man advantage and were only prevented from taking the lead by the crossbar when Perrin turned Benjamin Karamoko's cross against the woodwork.

However, with little over quarter of an hour to play, Les Verts made the all important breakthrough.

Having only just been introduced, Mollo showed some neat skill to fashion a shooting chance on the edge of the area and, with the aid of a heavy Mehdi Mostefa deflection, sent the ball beyond Lecomte to open the scoring.

The wounded visitors failed to respond and Christophe Galtier's side wrapped up all three points in the final minute of real time when Hamouma's pass from the right of the area found its way to Gradel at the back post and the former Leeds man was left with a simple finish to complete a successful afternoon for Les Verts.