Nancy vs. Saint-Étienne

On ten minutes Djamel Bakar wasted a seemingly ideal opportunity to put his side ahead. Youssouf Hadji played a wonderful subtle pass through to the former Monaco man, who struck his shot wide of Jeremie Janot’s goal.

The St Etienne stopper needed to be alert another 10 minutes in when Hadji's header - on the end of Issiar Dia's cross - was fingertipped away.

Sainte had their share of possession, but Nancy were far more incisive, mustering double figures of shots before the interval. However, many of these were lacking a real edge. An effort from Jonathan Brison, who tried his luck from 25 yards was the pick, but his effort skimmed wide.

Their first worthwhile chance came 11 minutes from the break when Payet's free-kick found Gonzalo Bergessio for a header that drifted wide.

Bergessio tried again five minutes into the second half, this time with a shot that was blocked by goalkeeper Damien Gregorini.

It would be the hosts who remained the more potent threat. Bakar dallied on the ball too long when well placed, allowing Yohan Andreu to recover and make a decent challenge. Julien Feret and Issiar Dia grew increasingly desperate as time wore on, with mediocre efforts from distance not troubling Janot as the game remained tight and largely chance-free.

Indeed, when a goal arrived, it came from barely an opening. Dimitri Payet picked the ball up 25-yards from goal and leathered a terrific drive into the side net of Gregorini, who was helpless to stop the ball.

The hosts responded with a Bakaye Traore header that Janot deflected on to a post and wide - and the goalkeeper did even better to protect the lead again with a brilliant reflex save four minutes from time when Dia put Cheick Diabate in for a volley only two yards out