Hatem Ben Arfa scored two spectacular goals in the first half as Nice beat high-flying Saint-Etienne 4-1 in Ligue 1 at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard this evening.
Nice came into the match after thrashing Bordeaux 6-1 last weekend, and they were ahead after only five minutes when Vincent Koziello snuck in at the back post to turn home Ricardo Pereira's cross.
Loic Perrin headed narrowly over as the hosts looked to preserve their unbeaten run of eight matches, and the Saint-Etienne defender did fire home the equaliser on 19 minutes when he was perfectly placed in the penalty area after Fabien Lemoine had rattled the crossbar from 25 yards.
Robert Beric twice should have restored Nice's advantage, first when he was denied from close range by Stephane Ruffier and then when he somehow headed Kevin Malcuit's free kick over the crossbar.
The visitors did retake the lead six minutes before the break when former Newcastle midfielder Ben Arfa controlled a lofted ball across the penalty area and smashed an angled half-volley across the goalkeeper into the far corner.
The winger extended the advantage in first-half injury time with a fine individual effort when he received the ball 40 yards from goal and set off, jinking his way past four defenders into the box before drilling a low finish into the far bottom corner for his sixth goal of the season.
Saint-Etienne had won five matches in a row in Ligue 1 but looked shell-shocked, and they fell even further behind shortly after half time when the visitors launched a rapid counter-attack and Valere Germain put Jean Seri through to fire home his side's 13th goal in the last three matches from the edge of the box.
The hosts were handed a slim lifeline 10 minutes later when Nampalys Mendy was shown a red card for reacting to a poor challenge from Lemoine, and were given a golden chance to reduce the deficit nine minutes from time when Nice were reduced to nine men.
Maxime Le Marchand was adjudged to have fouled Lemoine inside the penalty area and was dismissed for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity, but Jean-Christophe Bahebeck skied his effort from the spot to complete miserable evening for Saint-Etienne.
Tom Nightingale
