Evian Thonon Gaillar vs Montpellier. French Ligue 1.
Parc des Sports.
Saturday 21 September 2013 21:45, UK
Evian battled back from two goals down to extend their unbeaten run to three matches after a 2-2 draw with 10-man Montpellier.
Evian battled back from two goals down to extend their unbeaten run to three matches after a 2-2 draw with 10-man Montpellier. The visitors appeared on course to claim just their second win of the season after goals either side of half-time from Victor Montano and Remy Cabella. But Daniel Wass and substitute Modou Sougou scored in the space of four minutes to earn a share of the spoils, while Montpellier's bad luck was compounded when Siaka Tiene was sent off five minutes from time, despite being earlier substituted, after a challenging the referee from the touchline. The visitors should have been ahead in the opening two minutes when Victor Montano dribbled round Evian goalkeeper Bertrand Laquait only to miss the open goal by firing over. Geoffrey Jourdren made a decent save in the Montpellier goal from Wass from just outside the area before La Paillade took a 36th-minute lead. Djamel Bakar played through Montano and the Colombian forward clipped the ball over the onrushing Laquait and into the net. Evian nearly drew level before half-time but Kevin Berigaud saw his close range effort cannon back off the post. It looked to be a crucial miss when Montpellier doubled their lead six minutes after half-time when Cabella held off Cedric Mongongu to slot home at the near post from Bakar's left-wing cross. Evian refused to give up, however, and Cedric Barbosa's deflected effort from distance was well saved by Jourdren before the hosts then scored two goals in the space of four minutes to turn the game on its head. First, Wass curled superbly into the top corner with a free-kick in the 73rd minute. Then, in Evian's next attack Brazilian defender Hilton failed to clear the danger and Youssouf Sabaly crossed for on-loan forward Sougou cut the shot in. Hilton would atone for his error by clearing the ball off the line from Berigaud's close-range strike to ensure the visitors would at least go home with a point. Their night ended on a sour note, however, as Tiene, who was substituted in the 70th minute, was shown a red card five minutes from the end.
