St Etienne make point

St Etienne overturned a two-goal deficit to keep their European ambitions on track with a last-gasp 2-2 draw at Reims on Sunday.

St Etienne overturned a two-goal deficit to keep their European ambitions on track with a last-gasp 2-2 draw at Reims on Sunday. Gaetan Charbonnier and Franck Signorino put the home side in control, but Brandao quickly halved the deficit before a stoppage-time strike from Francois Clerc snatched a result which stretched their unbeaten run to four matches and will see them finish the weekend still in fourth spot in Ligue 1. Mevlut Erding had the first chance of the contest for ASSE, getting on to the end of a ball from Romain Hamouma but putting his header inches wide of the net. Reims responded with the opening goal after 23 minutes. Aissa Mandi fed Charbonnier in front of the target leaving the striker with an easy finish from close range. Hamouma had the chance to pull St Etienne level soon after but goalkeeper Kossi Agassa was able to block the shot and keep his side in front. The home side then doubled their advantage four minutes into the second half through Signorino, who was teed up by Diego before rounding a defender and planting the ball beyond Stephane Ruffier in the visiting goal. ASSE's reply was swift as Brandao, fed by Max Gradel, fired a low right-footed shot into the corner within a minute of the restart. And that goal sparked a spell of dominance from the visitors as they looked to take home some much-needed points. Hamouma planted a header on the crossbar after 62 minutes, with Agassa then pulling off a great save to keep out Brandao's effort on the rebound. The Reims goalkeeper was at the heart of the action again to stop Brandao's speedy shot, and then punched away a 25-yard drive from Benjamin Corgnet with a frustrating afternoon seemingly on the cards for St Etienne. However, their luck finally turned a minute into stoppage time when Clerc was in the right place to tap home from close range after Agassa had palmed away a Loic Perrin header.