Montpellier Held 2-2 At Brest In French League

Paris, Sept 18: Montpellier threw away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Brest on Saturday, missing an opportunity to consolidate its lead at the top of the French league.

Santiago Gentiletti equalized in the 88th minute with a close-range header for Brest, which had trailed 2-0 at halftime.

“That's food for thought,” Montpellier forward Olivier Giroud said. “It's a pity to drop two points two minutes from time.”

Montpellier took the lead in the 19th when Brest goalkeeper Steeve Elana parried a free kick from Chile midfielder Marco Estrada but Giroud followed up to slot home.

Giroud doubled the lead in the 41st by heading in a cross from fullback Henri Bedimo, before Israeli forward Eden Ben Basat pulled one back for Brest in the 70th.

“We helped that team get back into the match because of a lack of maturity,” Montpellier coach Rene Girard said. “We paid the price for learning. We lacked half an hour of rigor.”

Brest defender Tripy Makonda was sent off in the 89th for shoving Geoffrey Dernis.

The draw allowed Toulouse to draw level on points with Montpellier by rallying from two goals down to beat Bordeaux 3-2 with an injury-time winner.

Also Saturday, it was: Lille 2, Sochaux 2; Lorient 3, Saint-Etienne 0; Auxerre 1, Caen 1; Valenciennes 4, Dijon 0; Nice 3, Ajaccio 0.

Toulouse trailed 2-0 at halftime after Cheick Diabate scored twice for Bordeaux. The first came in the 19th when Bordeaux fullback Benoit Tremoulinas charged down the left wing to pull the ball back for Diabate. The Mali forward's first effort was denied by goalkeeper Ali Ahamada, but he converted the rebound.

Diabate notched his second goal in the 38th with a long-range strike inside the post.

But Franck Tabanou started the comeback for Toulouse with a penalty in the 52nd after Norway forward Daniel Braaten was fouled inside the area, and midfielder Etienne Capoue equalized with a volley in the 60th after Bordeaux failed to clear a corner.

Bordeaux was down to 10 men in the 74th when goalkeeper Cedric Carrasso was sent off for bringing down Tabanou inside the area. But replacement goalkeeper Abdoulaye Keita stopped Tabanou's penalty.

Toulouse still grabbed the winner when substitute Emmanuel Riviere skipped past Michael Ciani on a counterattack to score in stoppage time.

“It's a catastrophic scenario,” Bordeaux coach Francis Gillot said. “I don't think we deserved to lose this match. We'll have to recover mentally from this loss quickly.”

After a scoreless first half in Lille, Benoit Pedretti headed in a cross from Belgium midfielder Eden Hazard in the 49th.

But Lille was reduced to 10 men after defender Mathieu Debuchy picked up a second yellow card in the 54th, and Sochaux made the most of its numerical advantage as substitute Cedric Bakambu flicked home a pass from France midfielder Marvin Martin in the 69th.

But Lille earned a disputed penalty for a challenge on Pedretti and Hazard converted the spot kick in the 78th for a 2-1 lead. Sochaux still salvaged a draw in the 86th when Sloan Privat headed in a cross from Martin.

“Down to 10 men almost an entire half, drawing 2-2 against a quality side like Sochaux is a good performance,” Lille coach Rudi Garcia said.

In Lorient, Jeremie Aliadiere opened the scoring with a header in the 11th from a pass by Kevin Monnet-Paquet. Aliadiere added a second goal in the 76th by outpacing the Saint-Etienne defense to beat goalkeeper Stephane Ruffier, and Mathieu Coutadeur sealed the win in the 93rd by converting a cross from Yann Jouffre.

In Auxerre, Tunisia forward Issam Jemaa beat the offside trap to put the hosts ahead in the 32nd, but Caen midfielder Benjamin Nivet equalized on the stroke of halftime with an assist from Kandia Traore.

Valenciennes scored all four of its goals in a 26-minute span. Midfielder Gael Danic broke the deadlock with a header in the 53rd, before forward Gregory Pujol added the next two in quick succession. Pujol beat goalkeeper Baptiste Reynet in the 75th and made it 3-0 with a long-range drive in the 78th. In between, Dijon defender Steven Paulle was sent off for picking up a second yellow card.

Valenciennes midfielder Renaud Cohade put the result beyond doubt with a diagonal shot in the 79th.

In Nice, Argentine defender Fabian Monzon put the hosts ahead with a penalty just before halftime after Ajaccio midfielder Johan Cavalli stopped a header from Xavier Pentecote with his hand and received a red card.

Monzon was then fouled by Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi and converted another penalty in the 87th, before defender Renato Civelli powered home a header in the 89th.

On Sunday, Paris Saint-Germain visits Evian, Rennes faces Nancy and Lyon can take the top spot if it beats Marseille. AP