Saint-Etienne needed a last-minute equaliser to secure a 2-2 draw with Reims in Ligue 1 this afternoon.
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The visitors had the better of the early chances, as Max Gradel, Mevlut Erding and Moustapha Bayal Sall all tried to put Saint-Etienne ahead, but none was able to challenge Kossi Agassa.
Having avoided conceding early on, Reims managed to break the deadlock 24 minutes into the tie when Gaetan Charbonnier fired the ball in following an Aissa Mandi cross.
Romain Hamouma tried to level for the visitors just two minutes later, but his shot from a tight angle was just kept out.
The home side doubled their lead at the start of the second half through a Franck Signorino strike after a quick break from Charbonnier.
However, it took the visitors just a minute to cut their lead in half after Brandao drilled the ball in from a Fabien Lemoine through ball.
Hamouma and Benjamin Corgnet both had chances to level shortly after, but their finishes failed to find the target.
Saint-Etienne continued to press, and Corgnet almost got them back on level terms just after the hour mark, but his header from a Francois Clerc cross was kept out by the crossbar.
Clerc continued to create chances for the visitors, heading the ball on for Brandao a couple of minutes later, but Agassa made the save.
Saint-Etienne still looked the more likely as full time approached, and eventually got the breakthrough in stoppage time when Clerc blasted an effort in from the right-hand side of the area.
The result leaves Saint-Etienne fourth in the table, while Reims remain seventh.
Sian Cowper
