Ligue 1: St Etienne boost top-three hopes with narrow win over Montpellier

St Etienne boosted their hopes of a top-three finish in Ligue 1 with a 1-0 victory over Montpellier on Sunday.

Max Gradel netted the game's only goal after 20 minutes at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.

The result kept Christophe Galtier's side firmly in the hunt for a place in next season's Champions League qualification rounds.

The visitors arrived looking for their first win on the road since February and started brightly.

Paul Lasne escaped the attentions of the home defence thanks to Lucas Barrios' neat pass, but the former Ajaccio midfielder could only fire wide of Stephane Ruffier's goal.

Despite their encouraging opening, though, La Paillade soon found themselves a goal behind.

Montpellier goalkeeper Geoffrey Jourdren punched a delivery straight to Benjamin Corgnet, who headed down for Gradel and the in-form Ivorian confidently finished for his 12th goal of the season.

Rolland Courbis' side showed no signs of lying down and Barrios could easily have levelled when he broke through on goal just six minutes later but, after beating Ruffier, the Paraguayan was denied by the returning Moustapha Sall.

Les Verts' lead remained intact at the interval and, soon after the restart, Romain Hamouma was a whisker away from doubling their advantage in style when his superb overhead kick flew past Jourdren but hit the crossbar.

Montpellier continued their search for a leveller as a stretching Anthony Mounier failed to find the target with a header before Bryan Dabo shot straight at Ruffier from a dangerous-looking free-kick.

Tempers began to flare as the final whistle approached and the visitors could easily have grabbed a point deep into stoppage time when Dabo's delivery found Berigaud in the area, but his glancing header failed to trouble Ruffier.