Ligue 1 Review: Lens show signs of life, Saint-Etienne close the gap

Lens halted a run of four straight defeats to boost their Ligue 1 survival hopes with a 1-0 win against fellow strugglers Toulouse on Saturday.

Pablo Chavarria scored the only goal of the game in the 76th minute. Antoine Kombouare’s side stay second bottom, but climb within four points of Toulouse in 18th.

Metz remain rooted to the foot of the table after they were beaten 3-2 at home by Saint-Etienne, who now sit just a point behind fourth-placed Monaco, albeit having played a game more.

Lucas Barrios took his tally for the season to nine goals, scoring either side of half-time to put Montpellier in control against Reims.

Jean-Luc Vasseur’s side pulled one back through Prince Oniangue with three minutes to play, only for Morgan Sanson to seal the points in stoppage time.

Lorient increased the distance between themselves and the bottom three to five points by coming from behind to beat Caen.

Herve Bazile gave Patrice Garande’s side a 42nd-minute lead, before Raphael Guerreiro levelled moments later and Jordan Ayew grabbed the winner on 60 minutes.

Two goals in the space of as many minutes at the start of the second half saw Nantes triumph 2-1 against Evian in Saturday’s other game.