St Etienne 2 - 0 Stade Rennes

St Etienne 2-0 Rennes

Updated: January 19, 2008, 11:01 PM UK

ST ETIENNE, January 19 (Ligue 1) - Goals at either end of their clash with Rennes helped St Etienne arrest their recent slide and leapfrog their opponents in the Ligue 1 table.

Geoffrey Dernis opened the scoring, but under-pressure coach Laurent Roussey had to endure a nervy evening before Bafetimbi Gomis' late second sealed the win.

The win will provide some welcome respite for Roussey, who had overseen three consecutive league defeats before Saturday's game.

There were 13 minutes on the clock when a slick passing move saw Araujo Ilan find Gomis who in turned slipped the ball to Dernis to push the ball into the open goal.

Five minutes later Blaise Matuidi took the ball past Rennes defender Olivier Sorlin and shot from 20 yards but keeper Simon Pouplin deflect it out for a corner.

The rest of the half was dominated by the visitors and Sylvain Wiltord's stunning volley brought a fisted save out of Jeremie Janot.

Janot produced another fine block in first-half stoppage time when Mickael Pagis turned Rod Fanni's cross goalwards.

The visitors continued in similar fashion after the break with Wiltord putting Jimmy Briand through one on one, but Janot once again came out on top.

As the half progressed, St Etienne came back into the game as an attacking force, and Gomis struck the post from Matuidi's cross after 82 minutes.

He had better luck two minutes later, nodding home at the near post from Fredy Guarin's corner to make the points safe.