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Newly-promoted Nancy earned only their second win of the season with a brave 2-0 triumph away to Saint-Etienne that leaves Lyon as the only unbeaten side in Ligue 1.
Bottom of the table and fielding just Gaston Curbelo up front, Nancy looked extremely defensive on paper, and the crowds packed into 'Le Chaudron' expected another dominant performance from Les Verts following the 3-0 thrashing handed out to Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday.
Pablo Correa's side had an extra day to prepare for tonight's encounter, though, and looked far brighter than their hosts in the opening exchanges. Saint-Etienne goalkeeper Jérémie Janot came into the game having gone 1,501 minutes without conceding at home, but that statistic was soon under threat as Adrian Sarkisian began building a series of attacks.
The Uruguayan fired in his team's first effort himself, forcing Janot into a save after 13 minutes, and Elie Baup's charges were extremely fortunate when a shot from Emmanuel Duchemin was deflected wide by Zoumana Camara.
Nancy finally got the goal their efforts merited, and once again Sarkissian was involved as Cédric Lecluse celebrated his first start by turning in the 26-year-old's corner to bring Janot's record to a halt (1534 minutes).
Les Verts came out fighting after the interval and Frédéric Piquionne must have thought he had equalised when he met a cross with a fierce header. That was to under-estimate Gennaro Bracigliano, however, as the visitors' skipper somehow got his glove to the ball at full stretch.
It was a vital intervention, but Nancy were under pressure again just after the hour-mark when Julien Sablé struck a free-kick against the crossbar. The ball then fell to Hérita Ilunga at the far post, yet the Congolese defender snatched rashly at his chance to level the scores.
That was as close as the home side would come, and Sarkissian sent Nancy clear almost immediately afterwards with a simple tap-in from the penalty spot after Pascal Berenguer's effort had been deflected.
Heads dropped in the Saint-Etienne camp and they were unable to take advantage of some obvious signs of exhaustion from the basement-clubs' players as the clock ticked down.
They looked resigned to losing their unbeaten record and, in the end, it was Nancy who came closest to scoring again when Berenguer blasted against a post in stoppage-time. The win lifts Correa's side up to 18th, while Les Verts drop to fourth.
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