Delort at the double as Nice overpower Bouanga's Saint-Etienne

OGC Nice subdued Saint-Etienne 4-2 in Wednesday's Ligue 1 fixture, with Andy Delort bagging a brace.

The Eaglets came into the six-goal thriller on the back of their French Cup defeat by Moses Simon's FC Nantes.

However, they shook off that setback with a convincing victory over the Stephanois inside Allianz Riviera.

Perhaps fuelled by their back-to-back defeats in the French elite division, the visitors took the lead in the 11th minute after Denis Bouanga turned Yvann Macon's cross past goalkeeper Walter Benitez.

While the hosts were aiming to restore parity, it was Saint-Etienne who doubled his team's advantage through Zaydou Youssouf.

The former France youth international of Comorian origin was set up by Ryad Boudebouz in the closing stages of the first half.

Prior to that effort, Delort's headed goal was chalked off for offside.

Despite looking dead and buried, Nice mustered some courage to overturn the deficit before sealing all of the points at stake.

First, Melvin Bard reduced the scoreline from a tight angle after he was teed up by Amine Gouiri.

At the hour mark, Delort levelled matters after swerving home a beautiful free-kick that sailed past goalkeeper Paul Bernardoni.

Two minutes later, the African completed his brace from a Justin Kluivert cut-back, and with Saint-Etienne staring into the abyss, Hicham Boudaoui's deflected volley looped into the net to complete a second-half rout.

Delort - who now boasts 13 Ligue 1 goals in the 2021-22 season - was on parade from start to finish, whereas, Gabon international Mario Lemina was subbed off for Morgan Schneiderlin in the 78th minute.

Boudaoui was introduced for Bilal Brahimi in the 79th minute, as his compatriot Youcef Atal was not dressed for action.

On the opposing side, Gabon's Bouanga, Harold Moukoudi (Cameroon), Saidou Sow (Senegal), Boudebouz (Algeria), and Sada Thioub (Senegal) - who were all in action could not prevent Saint-Etienne from losing their 19th match so far.

While the result catapults Nice into the Uefa Europa League spots with two matches left, the Greens remain three points from safety, having won one of their past nine games.

Delort will be aiming to continue his impressive goals scoring run when his team host Lille on Saturday.