St-Étienne stifled by stubborn Troyes
Saturday, March 30, 2013
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AS Saint-Étienne missed the opportunity to move third in Ligue 1 after twice relinquishing the lead in a 2-2 stalemate away to the league's bottom club ES Troyes AC.
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ES Troyes AC twice came from behind to draw 2-2 at home against AS Saint-Étienne, preventing Les Verts from displacing third-placed Olympique de Marseille.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's 17th league goal of the season – heading in Joshua Guilavogui's miscued shot for his ninth in his last nine games – gave the visitors an eighth-minute lead. Julien Faussurier pulled Troyes level, before Brandão headed in to restore St-Étienne's advantage.
Benjamin Nivet struck seven minutes from the interval to once again wipe out Les Verts' lead and round off the scoring in an entertaining first period against which a goalless second half stood in stark contrast. St-Étienne, however, still remain unbeaten in 2013.
Meanwhile, a late Ludovic Obraniak strike denied FC Lorient the chance to move sixth, cancelling out a Jérémie Aliadière effort to salvage a 1-1 draw for FC Girondins de Bordeaux.
Struggling AS Nancy-Lorraine won at Stade Rennais FC for a vital three points in their battle to beat the drop, while Clarck Nsikulu scored in added time to rescue a point for Évian Thonon Gaillard FC against ten-man Stade de Reims.
