Brest vs Nancy. French Ligue 1.
Francis le Ble.
Sunday 26 May 2013 23:48, UK
Nancy came out on top in the battle between two relegated teams by claiming a 2-1 victory over Brest.
Nancy came out on top in the battle between two relegated teams by claiming a 2-1 victory over Brest at the Stade Francis-Le Ble. Sebastian Puygrenier's first-half brace proved enough to guarantee all three points for Patrick Gabriel's men despite Charlison Benschop pulling a goal back at the death for Ligue 1's bottom club. Defeat for the hosts meant they had the unenviable record of suffering defeat in their previous 11 league fixtures. The visitors wasted no time in stamping their authority on the game and found themselves in front with just 10 minutes played. Thomas Mangani swung a corner in and Puygrenier arrived at the back post to send the ball beyond Alexis Thebaux. Puygrenier did not stop there, though, and doubled his side's lead on the half-hour mark when a free-kick fell into his path just eight yards out. The former Zenit St Petersburg defender was left with an easy finish to become the top scoring defender in Ligue 1 this season. Benoit Lesoimier did his best to drag his team back into the game on the stroke of half-time but the midfielder's 25-yard effort failed to test Damien Gregorini in the visitors' goal. With both teams already aware of their fate, the second half failed to entertain and neither side looked like finding the back of the net. Benschop went close on the hour mark and, after beating Puygrenier, he forced a save out of Gregorini from a tight angle. Brest continued to labour and Bruno Grougi fired a promising free-kick into the wall before Joel Sami forced a save from Thebaux at the other end with a looping header. The hosts did manage to pull a goal back in injury time but sadly for Corentin Martins' men it was a case of too little, too late. Florian Julien was the creator and he picked out Benschop who held off a Jordan Loties challenge before firing across Gregorini to give the Brest faithful something to cheer at the end of a very disappointing season.
