Ligue 1 wrap: Nancy woes continue

Nancy fell deeper into relegation trouble, while a resurgent Troyes continued their unbeaten run in Ligue 1 on Saturday.

Nancy fell deeper into relegation trouble, while a resurgent Troyes continued their unbeaten run in Ligue 1 on Saturday.

Bottom-placed Nancy slumped to their third consecutive loss after going down 3-0 to Saint-Etienne at home.

Brazilian forward Brandao opened the scoring in the 17th minute before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang struck on either side of the interval to put the result beyond doubt.

Saint-Etienne lost Fabien Lemoine to a straight red card for a challenge on Vincent Muratori, while Nancy had Florent Zitte dismissed for a foul on Jonathan Brison.

Nancy remain six points adrift of league safety, while fifth-placed Saint-Etienne edged closer towards a European berth.

Meanwhile, Troyes extended their undefeated streak in all competitions to six matches with a 0-0 draw against Bastia.

Troyes, 19th on the table, have not been beaten since January 20 and now lie four points behind 17th-placed Reims.

Elsewhere, Rennes came from behind to secure a 2-2 draw at home to Sochaux.

Sochaux looked set to clinch a rare away win before Cameroonian forward Jean Makoun equalised for the hosts in the 88th minute.

In other matches, Dimitri Payet netted a brace as Lille claimed a 3-1 win at Ajaccio.

Younes Belhanda’s 80th-minute strike handed Montpellier a 1-0 victory at Evian Thonon Gaillard, while Valenciennes and Toulouse played out a 0-0 stalemate.