Montpellier end winless streak

Montpellier ended a five-match winless streak with a 2-1 victory at Guingamp.

Montpellier ended a five-match winless streak with a 2-1 victory at Guingamp which moved them an enormous step closer to safety in Ligue 1. An own goal from Jeremy Sorbon was quickly followed by a Benjamin Stambouli strike to put Rolland Courbis' men in the driving seat at the Stade du Roudourou. Mustapha Yatabare's second-half reply gave Guingamp hope, but further chances went begging to leave the hosts four spots and three points worse off than their 12th-placed opponents. Siaka Tiene came close to opening the scoring for Montpellier after eight minutes with a free-kick which he curled just past the top corner. Mamadou Samassa then made his first save of the match, denying Stambouli from the edge of the area following some good build-up play by the visitors. Guingamp were not without their chances either, their best of the half arriving in the 23rd minute when Yatabare teed up Christophe Mandanne for a powerful drive which was punched away by Geoffrey Jourdren. But it was Montpellier who took a fortunate lead after 25 minutes, when another free-kick from Tiene was clumsily headed into his own net by Sorbon. The visitors were then two goals to the good two minutes later. Remy Cabella swept in a corner which was not properly dealt with by the Guingamp defence, allowing an unmarked Stambouli to stab home from close range. Jocelyn Gourvennec's men showed greater promise after the interval and Mandanne threatened with a volley which only just cleared the crossbar. And they reduced the deficit after 61 minutes thanks to Yatabare, who made the most of a lovely cross from Claudio Beauvue to tap in at the near post. The pressure was on Montpellier now to defend their lead and Jourdren came to the rescue after 76 minutes to keep out Ladislas Douniama's shot on target. The visitors then had the woodwork to thank for preserving the three points when Rachid Aliou saw a header come back off the bar 11 minutes from time.