Comeback kid Le Bihan moves Nice level with Monaco

Mickael Le Bihan came off the bench to score twice and mark a stunning return from a personal injury nightmare as Nice moved level on points with Ligue 1 leaders Monaco by beating Montpellier 2-1 at home on Friday.

The visitors took a shock lead inside 10 minutes, Steve Mounie capitalising on catastrophic defending after Arnaud Souquet hit a clearance into his own man, leaving the attacker free to smash home a close-range finish.

Younes Belhanda had a golden opportunity to level the scores against his former club after 33 minutes, but he dragged a shot wide when he should have scored, then Anastasios Donis failed to turn home a free-kick in first-half stoppage-time.

Substitute Le Bihan, who recently returned from a long spell out with a broken leg and had not appeared in Ligue 1 since September 2015, equalised after good work by Valentin Eysseric, firing home from the edge of the area.

Le Bihan then completed Nice’s comeback in fine style with five minutes remaining, timing his run on to Souquet’s pass perfectly and lifting a glorious finish over onrushing goalkeeper Laurent Pionnier.

La joie des Aiglons #OGCNMHSC 2-1 pic.twitter.com/yOMTsNxacH

— OGC Nice (@ogcnice) February 24, 2017

Ryad Boudebouz almost equalised in injury-time when his free-kick hit the post, but Nice – who were without the suspended Mario Balotelli – move level at the top of the table with Monaco, who travel to Guingamp on Saturday, while defending champions PSG are in action at Marseille on Sunday.