Brest on the rise

Brest moved up to eighth in Ligue 1 after coming from behind to beat 10-man Valenciennes 2-1.

Brest moved up to eighth in Ligue 1 after coming from behind to beat 10-man Valenciennes 2-1. The away side took the lead through Mathieu Dossevi after 10 minutes and it took until the hour mark for Brest to get back on level terms through Jonathan Ayite. Eden Ben Basat then put Brest in front from the spot after Brazilian defender Gil was sent off for conceding the penalty, while Valenciennes were denied a last-minute equaliser by the post in a thrilling finish. Brest had also hit the woodwork as early as the third minute, with Bruno Grougi's free-kick coming back off the upright, while Loris Nery tested home goalkeeper Alexis Thebaux before Valenciennes took the lead. A well-worked team move ended with Anthony Le Tallec feeding Dossevi on the right, who beat Gregory Lorenzi before curling a left-footed shot beyond Thebaux. It took Brest 20 minutes to truly threaten an equaliser, but Ayite's shot was saved by goalkeeper Nicolas Penneteau. And when Ayite turned provider for Benoit Lesoimier in the last minute of the first half, Penneteau was again in the right place to make the save. Even when Penneteau was beaten by Ayite's shot straight after the interval, Valenciennes remained in the lead thanks to Gaetan Bong racing back to clear the ball off the line. But the home side finally made their pressure tell on the hour as Penneteau made a rare mistake, failing to hold onto Lorenzi's cross to allow Ayite to slot into an empty net. Brest pushed forward in search of a winner and it arrived in the 75th minute as Gil was sent off for bringing down Ben Basat in the area. Ben Basat stepped up and took the resulting penalty himself, sending Penneteau the wrong way. Valenciennes ignored their numerical disadvantage and went in search of an equaliser, but Le Tallec's 86th-minute header came back off the post and Brest held on.