Bautheac bags Nice win

A goal by Eric Bautheac was enough for Nice to bring to an end seven successive defeats as they beat Sochaux 1-0.

A goal by Eric Bautheac was enough for Nice to bring to an end seven successive defeats as they claimed a 1-0 win over Sochaux in Ligue 1. Bautheac slotted home between the legs of goalkeeper Pierrick Cros after 23 minutes to condemn Les Lionceaux to their fourth consecutive loss and leave them rooted to the bottom of the table. Herve Renard, who replaced Eric Hely as Sochaux manager in early October, is still searching for his first victory with things looking bleak. Bautheac almost gave the hosts the lead after 18 minutes when he curled in a corner which hit the post. Nice were ahead five minutes later when Bautheac received a cross from Didier Digard and dribbled past Sebastien Corchia before slotting between Cros' legs. Everything was going through Bautheac and he found Dario Cvitanich in front of goal, only for his goalbound header to be somehow blocked by Cros. Again Cros came to Sochaux's rescue when Mathieu Bodmer freed Christian Bruls on the left and he raced towards goal before unleashing a 20-yard shot which the keeper parried. It took until the 69th minute for Sochaux to have an effort on target. Corchia's cross from the right found Cedric Bakambu in the area and his header went narrowly over the bar. That was the end of Sochaux as any attacking threat and it was Nice who came closest to breaking through in the closing stages, Valentin Esseyric firing a right-footed shot from the left of the area which Cros managed to keep out.