French Ligue 1 report: St Etienne off to a flyer

St Etienne claimed a 2-0 away win over Guingamp in the opening game of their Ligue 1 campaign thanks to a goal in each half from Mevlut Erding.

The Turkey international scored the opener from the penalty spot in the 39th minute before making sure of the points with a stoppage-time strike at the Stade du Roudourou.

Guingamp had a goal ruled out in the 67th minute as Christophe Mandanne was flagged offside.

Guingamp did have several chances of their own, though, with the first almost falling to Mustapha Yatabare, but Moustapha Bayal Sall cleared the threat.

However, the ball out was poor and it found Laurent Dos Santos on the edge of the area, but his first-time effort flew over Stephane Ruffier's crossbar.

St Etienne took the lead as the first half started to wind down when Christophe Kerbrat fouled Romain Hamouma six yards out.

Erding stepped up and took charge before firing a confident penalty beyond Mamadou Samassa.

Guingamp then wasted a good opportunity to level just before the break when Yatabare met Thibault Giresse's corner at the near post but the powerful striker failed to make good contact and Ruffier gathered easily.

After the break, Kerbrat went close to making up for giving away the penalty when he met Giresse's corner, but the defender could only head over Ruffier's bar.

Mandanne then thought he had levelled for the hosts when he got on the end of a good ball by Sylvain Marveaux before beating Ruffier, but the flag went up for offside.

As Guingamp started becoming increasingly desperate, St Etienne doubled their lead.

Guingamp defender Dorian Leveque made a huge gaffe and passed straight to Erding who, faced only with Samassa in the En Avant goal, made no mistake and sealed all three points.