Troyes make late point

A double salvo from Benjamin Nivet rescued a point for Troyes in a 3-3 home draw with Nancy.

A double salvo from Benjamin Nivet rescued a point for Troyes, denying fellow strugglers Nancy a rare victory in the process after a 3-3 draw. Jean Fernandez's men had only five goals to their name going into the encounter, so hopes were understandably high when the visitors overturned Granddi Ngoyi's opener to build a 3-1 lead before the break, thanks to goals from Sebastian Puygrenier, Yohan Mollo and Andre Luiz. But when Nivet narrowed the deficit to a single goal nine minutes from time, a frail and stretched Nancy could just not hold on, and the veteran midfielder duly earned Estac a point from the penalty spot. Troyes' 19th-minute opener followed an excellent team move, with Marcos dos Santos releasing Nivet to flick the ball forward onto Ngoyi, who beat Guy N'Dy Assembe from close range. But Puygrenier dragged the visitors level in the 31st minute when he deftly controlled Simon Zenke's free-kick to nudge the ball beyond Yohann Thuram-Ulien. Mollo capitalised on some sloppy defending from Thuram-Ulien to make the most of Djamel Bakar's through-ball just two minutes later, and goalscorer turned provider on the stroke of half-time. Luiz was in the right place to head home as Mollo drifted a corner into the box, and Nancy were just 45 nervous minutes away from claiming their first victory since the opening day of the season. Chances were at a premium in the second half, but Troyes enjoyed the better of them, Fabien Camus forcing a fine stop from N'Dy Assembe before Jean-Christophe Behabeck saw his dangerous volley cleared to safety. The visiting keeper kept a Bahebeck header out as Troyes surged forward with time running out, but he was beaten in the 81st minute when Nivet picked his spot from 25 yards. Nancy put 10 men behind the ball in a desperate bid to preserve their lead but, in all the excitement, Joel Sami conceded a penalty for handball at a crucial time. Nivet placed his shot to the left as N'Dy Assembe leapt to the right, with Nancy left to wonder what might have been from their all-too-familiar position at the bottom of the table.