Saint-Etienne have beaten Valenciennes 1-0 at the Stade Geoffrey-Guichard to draw level on points with Ligue 1 leaders Lyon.

Les Verts were well in control in the first half, with Brandao going close to opening the scoring in the 23rd minute.

The home side created a number of opportunities to score, but had to wait until the 73rd minute to break the deadlock, when Romain Hamouma fired past Nicolas Penneteau.

Pape Abdou Camara had the chance to level in the 77th minute when he got his head to Gael Danic's corner, but his header was wild.

Hamouma then had the chance to make certain of the victory with six minutes to go. Saint-Etienne made a fast break and the midfielder was put through by Josuha Guilavogui, but put his shot wide of the goal.