Sochaux boost survival bid

Sochaux kept alive their Ligue 1 survival hopes with a 2-0 home victory over Toulouse.

Sochaux kept alive their Ligue 1 survival hopes with a 2-0 home victory over Toulouse. Jordan Ayew's first-half goal and another from Roy Contout after the break moved Herve Renard's team to within five points of safety with five matches remaining. The hosts started well and twice hit the woodwork during the early stages. Ayew saw a volley come back off the crossbar after eight minutes and then three minutes later the Ghanaian hit a post with another well-struck shot. However, the on-loan Marseille man was not to be denied for long. In the 15th minute Contout sent in a lovely cross from the left and Ayew powered a header past Toulouse goalkeeper Zacharie Boucher. It was the least Sochaux deserved. Boucher was called into action again just after the half-hour mark to palm away a long-range effort from Florian Marange. Renard was sent to the stands after 39 minutes for taking his protests too far over the award of a throw-in to Toulouse. Four minutes after half-time, Sochaux doubled their lead. This time the roles were reversed as Ayew crossed to the far post, where Contout headed home. Clement Chantome went close with a free-kick for the visitors before Wissam Ben Yedder sent a header over the crossbar as Toulouse applied some rare pressure. It took another superb save from Boucher to deny Stopilla Sunzu a goal as his header was pushed over the bar with seven minutes remaining. The closest Toulouse came to a goal was in the 88th minute when Ben Yedder's powerful shot took a deflection off Yohann Pele and struck the bar.