Sochaux still fighting

Sochaux gave themselves a chance of escaping relegation from Ligue 1 with a third win in four games against 10-man Nice.

Sochaux gave themselves a chance of escaping relegation from Ligue 1 with a third win in four games against 10-man Nice. Twelve points from six unbeaten matches has lifted them to within a point of safety and their home game against Evian, immediately above them, on the final day of the season in a fortnight looks like being the decider. Jordan Ayew had a hand in both his side's goals; his run and cross forced defender Nemanja Pejcinovic to turn the ball into his own net before half-time and the Ghanian headed in a second after the break. With confidence high after a string of good results the hosts began brightly with goalkeeper David Ospina denying Sebastien Corchia's first-minute volley and Roy Contout's curling effort either side of Carlao cleared Jeremy Pied's effort off the line with Sochaux goalkeeper Yohann Pele beaten. Ospina was the busier of the two goalkeepers as he also kept out Sanjin Pricic but when Ayew burst past three defenders his cross was turned in by Pejcinovic. Ayew was the architect of Sochaux's best moves and just after his low shot had been denied by Ospina again he added the important second with a far post header from Sebastien Corchia's cross. The same pair combined again in the 71st minute but with the roles reverse Corchia's shot was blocked by the goalkeeper. With 10 minutes to go Dario Cvitanich, who had been booked for diving, was shown a second yellow card for dissent after sarcastically applauding the referee and his departure made life much easier for Sochaux to see out an important victory.