Brest halt losing streak

Brest ended a four-game losing streak and inched away from the relegation zone after a 1-1 draw with Ajaccio.

Brest ended a four-game losing streak and inched away from the relegation zone following a 1-1 draw with Ajaccio at the Stade Francis-Le Ble. Florian Raspentino fired the hosts ahead early on but they were denied a first league home win since November by Dennis Oliech 20 minutes from the end. With most of Brest's relegation rivals losing it was, however, a point gained for Landry Chauvin's men following their recent barren run. Brest were quickly ahead as Raspentino profited on good work from on-loan Everton forward Magaye Gueye after 11 minutes. Gueye delivered an excellent ball just in behind the defenders where an onrushing Raspentino was well placed to take a touch before thumping the ball past goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa's dive. Ajaccio rarely threatened in the opening 45 minutes but when they did Alexis Thebaux acted smartly to keep out Oliech's low drive from the edge of the area. Gueye was impressing at the other end and teed up Kamel Chafni to volley a sweet shot just over. With time ticking down to the half-time whistle Ochoa needed two attempts to thwart Jonathan Ayite. Ajaccio remained firmly in the game at 1-0 and reminded the hosts of that shortly after the restart as skipper Johan Cavalli shot narrowly over after Paul Lasne's clever cross. Chafni curled a shot inches wide before Gueye again had Ochoa scrambling to snuff out the danger after initially mishandling. Brest were 20 minutes away from securing a first home league win since November 17 - they had lost all five games in between time - only for Oliech to snatch a point. The Kenya striker combined with Cavalli to cut open the home defence and leave him with the simplest of finishes from close range. Both sides still had their chances to seal the win. Ochoa made a last-gasp stop to deny Raspentino before Thebaux deflected away a fiercely-struck Cavalli strike.