hamouma hands st-étienne success at dnipro published: thursday 22 october 2015, 20.52cet dnipro 0-1 st-étienne romain hamouma's low finish just before the interval gave les verts their first group g win as last season's runners-up toiled fruitlessly.
first group g win for les verts; first loss in section for dnipro low romain hamouma finish rounds off low-key first half ruslan rotan gets best dnipro's chance; stéphane ruffier saves well florentin pogba heads against his own bar at death teams meet again at stade geoffroy-guichard on 5 november
romain hamouma's strike just before half-time consigned dnipro to their first group g defeat, st-étienne securing their first success in this season's uefa europa league.
the home side scored six without reply at stal dniprodzerzhynsk on saturday, but did not muster a meaningful shot until ruslan rotan's effort from range on 35 minutes. st-étienne had passed the ball around nicely, yet took even longer to threaten, denys boyko cutting out hamouma's ball across goal and then saving a nolan roux effort soon afterwards.
those two players combined for the opener on 44 minutes, roux's delivery from the right picking out hamouma on the opposite side of the area; the dnipro defence failed to discourage the 28-year-old winger, and hamouma was able to steer a low strike across boyko and into the net.
dnipro, who had netted late in their opening two group g games, began to build momentum as the second half went on. loïc perrin put in a great challenge to stop yevhen seleznyov pulling the trigger, and goalkeeper stéphane ruffier scrambled to keep out a rotan attempt. st-étienne countered cannily enough, and their luck was in, florentin pogba flicking a corner onto his own crossbar in the closing seconds.
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