PARIS (AP) — Angers and Saint-Etienne are struggling for goals in Ligue 1 and yet their contest turned out to be lively entertainment as Angers came out on top 4-2 on Saturday.
Ibrahima Niane put host Angers back in front from the penalty spot in the 69th minute and Bamba Dieng completed their first win in nine league matches in added time.
“We waited for this win for so long,” said Jean-Eudes Aholou, who also scored for Angers. “We suffered a lot to get it.”
It was the first time Angers scored more than three goals in the league in more than two years.
Angers moved to 14th overall, level on points with Saint-Etienne but with a better goal difference.
Zuriko Davitashvili scored twice, his fifth goal in October for Saint-Etienne following a hat trick.
“It’s hard because we had opportunities to win this game," Davitashvili said. "We need more confidence to play, our situation is difficult.”
Himad Abdelli opened the scoring for Angers in the seventh minute. Abdelli controlled a cross with a light touch then dribbled past Yunis Abdelhamid and finished off the move from close range with his left foot.
Davitashvili then sent goalkeeper Gautier Larsonneur the wrong way from the spot, and Aholou scored his first goal in more than a year.
Aholou — who did not play last season at Strasbourg and left for Angers — did not think too much when the ball returned to his feet inside the box and he fired in a powerful shot.
Davitashvili leveled the tie at 2-2 from the edge of the area in the second half with a curled shot which took a deflection.
The highly rated winger joined from Bordeaux this summer as Saint-Etienne prepared to return to the top-flight following a two-year absence. He was a member of the Georgia team which reached the European Championship last 16 this summer and upset Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal.
Brest wins at Reims
Brest scored twice within the opening 18 minutes and held on to win 2-1.
Romain Faivre wrongfooted the goalkeeper from the penalty spot and Mama Balde doubled the visitors' lead. Joseph Okumu pulled one back in the first half.
Unbeaten in the Champions League, Brest has not been so successful domestically, losing four matches already. Saturday's result moved it into eighth place, one point behind Reims.
Lille later traveled to Lens in the Derby of the North.
Leader Paris Saint-Germain travels to Marseille on Sunday for the latest installment of Le Classique, the biggest game in French soccer.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
The Associated Press
