Saint Etienne, France – St Etienne moved into the top four in Ligue 1 on Wednesday after posting a comfortable 4-2 victory over Ajaccio at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.
Coming off a 1-0 win over Rennes on April 20, a brace from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and goals from Mathieu Bodmer and Renaud Cohade made sure Les Verts claimed their second consecutive win and a vital three points.
Adrian Mutu netted a brace for Ajaccio, but it wasn't enough to prevent the visitors from extending their winless run in league play to five straight matches.
Ajaccio was on the front foot early on and struck first 15 minutes into the match when Mutu ripped one past St Etienne goalkeeper Stephane Ruffier from inside the penalty area.
But Aubameyang pulled St Etienne level in the 23rd minute when he got on the end of a pass from Yohan Mollo and beat Ajaccio goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa from close range.
The clubs went into the halftime break level, but St Etienne snagged control of the match two minutes into the second half when Mollo provided his second assist of the day and Bodmer ripped it into the bottom left corner for the 2-1 advantage.
Three minutes later St Etienne widened its margin to 3-1 through Cohade, who got on the end of a through ball from Aubameyang and slotted it into the bottom right corner.
Mutu collected his second tally of the match in the 76th minute when he converted a penalty kick, but Les Verts put the result away with a second goal from Aubameyang two minutes from time.
The result lifts St Etienne to 57 points from 33 matches, while Ajaccio remains in 15th place, two points clear of the bottom three.
In Wednesday's other Ligue 1 fixture, first-half goals from Jean Christophe Bahebeck and Jeremie Brechet propelled Troyes to a 2-1 victory over Rennes.
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