Valenciennes 1 - 0 St Etienne

Valenciennes 1-0 St Etienne

Updated: August 9, 2008, 11:30 PM UK

VALENCIENNES, August 9 (Ligue 1) - Gael Danic got the only goal of the game from the penalty spot as Valenciennes made a winning start to the season against St Etienne.

Danic struck in the 27th minute after Loic Perrin brought down Johan Audel in the area and despite dominating possession and having a seemingly endless string of chances, St Etienne could not respond.

The win will give Valenciennes a huge lift after a summer of high-profile departures - including star striker Steve Savidan and captain Abdeslam Ouaddou - that have left them fearing the drop this season.

However, coach Antoine Kombouare will know his team rode their luck for long periods and need to tighten up at the back.

St Etienne's Dimitri Payet struck the post in the sixth minute, the start of a frustrating evening for their forwards.

After Danic's penalty, the chances continued to favour the visitors, but Nicolas Penneteau's goal was hardly threatened as all too often St Etienne's forwards failed to find the target with their shots.

Indeed, it was Valenciennes who went closest to scoring in the 36th minute when Filip Sebo saw his close-range header saved by Jodi Viviani.

St Etienne seemed happy to settle for shots from long range, even though they went much closer when they made the effort to break down the defence, with Blaise Matuidi unlucky to see his shot from six yards saved.

As the minutes ticked down, St Etienne increased the pressure but to no avail.

Pascal Feindouno and Efstathios Tavlaridis were both denied before Bafetimbi Gomis found the woodwork again, signalling that this was not to be their day.