Saint-Étienne rose to third position in Ligue 1 on Saturday night with a 4-0 victory over Nice thanks, in part, to a brace from Brazilian striker Brandão.
The victory, which takes Les Verts into the qualification places for the Champions League was, though, tempered by a horrific leg break suffered by influential midfielder Jeremy Clement in the first-half.
Six wins and a draw from their past seven league matches have flung the side up the league table and they showed little sign of struggle in leapfrogging rivals Nice for a place in the Top Four.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gave Saint-Étienne an early lead from the penalty spot before Clement’s injury slowed proceedings. It would then take until the second-half for the rout to continue as Brandão, twice, and Yohan Mollo added quick-fire goals to secure the win.
With six goals in his last six appearances, Brandão has now broken his previous best tally for a Ligue 1 season as he reaches nine for the campaign. Remarkably, Saint-Étienne are also yet to lose a single game with the Brazilian in which the Brazilian has started.
