Evian stay out of trouble

Evian remain on the right side of the Ligue 1 danger line after a 2-0 win over Nice on a dramatic night in France.

Evian remain on the right side of the Ligue 1 danger line after a 2-0 win over Nice on a dramatic night in France. Kevin Berigaud and Nicolas Benezet scored the goals for the home side, whose joy will have turned to fury when they got back to the dressing rooms to see relegation rivals Guingamp and Souchaux also won. The upshot is that the table effectively remains the same with Sochaux a point adrift behind the line and Evian just above them. The two play each other next weekend in a winner-takes-all battle. Evian will need to be on top of their game when that day comes, with Sochaux bang in-form. They will at least head into it in good shape themselves, though. They started well and Daniel Wass had a free-kick blocked by Mouez Hassen, before Berigaud opened the scoring in the 18th minute. Evian's all-time leading scorer robbed Nemanja Pejcinovic of possession and then had a walk-in to the goal where he did the rest. It was all Evian and Benezet played in Berigaud for what would have been a second had his effort not skimmed the post. Nice responded after the break with Franck Honorat cracking a drive just wide, before Evian returned to the front foot and put the game to bed in the 77th minute. Benezet was the scorer, taking in Wass' pass and jinking into the area before slapping in a strike which Hassen got a hand to but could not keep out. That proved to be that and Evian saw the game out, with their biggest hurdle still to come. For Nice, despite the loss, safety is in the bag as they cannot be overtaken by both Evian and Sochaux.