French Ligue 1

St Etienne 2-1 Sochaux

ST ETIENNE, August 16 (Ligue 1) - First-half goals from Blaise Matuidi and Pascal Feindouno secured a first win of the season for St Etienne.

Matuidi scored the opener after 10 minutes before Feindouno doubled the hosts' advantage from the penalty spot just eight minutes later.

Damien Perquis ensured a nervous finish when he pulled one back after 75 minutes, but Laurent Roussay's men managed to hold on for maximum points.

Matuidi gave the home side the advantage early on when he notched his first goal of the season. The midfielder beat the offside trap and fired past goalkeeper Teddy Richert.

Les Verts doubled their advantage from the spot in the 18th minute. Dimitri Payet was tripped by Perquis and Feindouno slotted home the subsequent penalty.

Sochaux nearly found an instant reply through Stephane Dalmat six minutes later, but his free kick was saved by Jodi Viviani.

It was a sign of things to come as the visitors introduced Valter Birsa and changed to a more attacking formation.

They came close to scoring in the 62nd minute when Birsa's cross found Jacques Faty, who headed against the crossbar.

And former St Etienne defender Perquis managed to make amends for conceding the penalty by scoring a clever lob with 15 minutes remaining.

Bafetimbi Gomis could have settled the game a minute later, but his effort was saved by Richert when he was one-on-one with the Sochaux keeper.

Substitute Kandia Traore nearly salvaged a point in injury time for Francis Gillot's men, but Viviani saved his powerful strike to ensure a home win.