Montpellier break home duck

Montpellier ended their wait for a first home win of the season with a dominant second-half performance against Nice.

Montpellier ended their wait for a first home win of the Ligue 1 season with a dominant second-half performance against Nice that saw them win 3-1. After two draws and two defeats at Stade de la Mosson, the defending champions finally produced the goods with strikes from Souleymane Camara and John Utaka, plus an own goal from Renato Civelli. Some of the shine was taken off the performance when Dario Cvitanich scored from the penalty spot for Nice, with Garry Bocaly sent off in the same incident, but the points had already been secured by then. Montpellier were looking for a positive response to back-to-back league defeats, but luck appeared to be against them in the first half as Anthony Mounier first hit the side-netting in the 14th minute before seeing a volley cleared off the line by Civelli 14 minutes later. However, the match turned in their favour seven minutes into the second half when Camara fired in the opening goal, pouncing on a poor clearance from Lloyd Palun and stabbing home from close range. Another goal then followed after 63 minutes. Remy Cabella played a neat lay-off to Utaka, who curled a shot beyond goalkeeper Joris Delle, although replays suggested the striker was offside. Montpellier goalkeeper Geoffrey Jourdren came to the rescue of his side soon after, tipping away a volley from Jeremy Pied as Nice looked to get back into the match. Their challenge was finally ended four minutes from time though, with Jourdren's long kick into the opposite box causing confusion between Delle and Civelli, who ended up heading the ball into his own net. The match ended on a sour note for the home side with Bocaly giving away a stoppage-time penalty for a challenge on Neal Maupay. The defender was sent off and Cvitanich chipped in from the spot, but it was no more than a consolation for Nice.