Saturday 14 March 2015 21:49, UK
Nantes eased their relegation concerns with a 2-1 win over an Evian side who are still very much in trouble at the foot of the table.
Goals either side of the half-time break from Georges-Kevin Nkoudou and Serge Gakpe put Nantes in charge and they held on for the win despite Evian pulling one back through Clarck Nsikulu.
The result sees Nantes climb up to eighth on 39 points, 10 above the drop zone, with Evian remaining just three points clear of danger.
Nantes had picked up just six points from a possible 27 in 2015 coming into the match, while Evian had won three on the trot before last weekend's loss to high-flying Monaco, but it was the home side who looked like the form team early on.
Koffi Djidji went close with a 10th-minute header from Gakpe's corner on before Alejandro Bedoya drew a stunning save out of visiting keeper Benjamin Leroy with a close-range volley from Vincent Bessat's free-kick seven minutes later.
Evian responded with a lobbed effort from Cedric Barbosa that went inches wide, but it was Nantes who were celebrating a half-time lead thanks to Nkoudou's 45th-minute strike.
Nounkeu and Ismael Bangoura combined to release Gakpe on the right, and his pass into the area gave Nkoudou the chance to roll a shot past Leroy with ease.
That was the ideal way to end the first half, and Nantes also enjoyed a perfect start to the second half as well as Gakpe made it 2-0 in the 47th minute.
Kian Hansen's long pass forward was latched onto by Gakpe, who let the ball bounce before smashing a right-foot strike into the back of the net.
With the points slipping away, Evian pushed forward and Mathieu Duhamel shot straight at Remy Riou before the visitors got the lifeline they had been searching for 15 minutes from time when Nsikulu halved the deficit.
Nsikulu picked up a good pass from Duhamel, skipped between home defenders Issa Cissokho and Oswaldo Vizcarrondo and beat Riou from close range.
With seven minutes remaining Evian created what would prove to be their last good chance to try and snatch a point, but Riou just about managed to keep out Duhamel's thunderous volley to keep the three points in Nantes.
