With the suspended pair of q Wahi and Wahbi Khazri watching on from the naughty step, ex-Arsenal product Stephyq Mavididi picked an ideal time to finally score his first and second goals of the Ligue 1 season during a worthwhile trip to Auxerre.
Mavididi cut inside before firing a rocket into the roof of the net just after the hour mark, and the former England youth international doubled his tally with a delicate chip in the 80th minute before the impenetrable Benjamin Lecomte kept out a stoppage-time penalty from Birama Toure.
Having ended a miserable four-game losing run in all tournaments stretching back to December, Romain Pitau‘s side occupy 14th place in the tableand hold a healthy five-point buffer over the four sides in the relegation zone, but they are far from assured of their place in the top division.
An early Coupe de France exit to Pau has at least allowed La Paillade to focus solely on their Ligue 1 fortunes, but as one of only four teams to have shipped over 40 goals in the division so far – the others being Troyes, Auxerre and Angers – failure to tighten up at the back will spell danger for Pitau’s men.
Montpellier have also taken just one point from their last five home games during a woeful period at the Stade de la Mosson – keeping just one clean sheet on familiar territory all season against Ajaccio – but there is arguably no better time to face a wounded PSG.
Since returning from the World Cup break, Hearts have managed to put together a nine-match undefeated run, one which has included six wins.
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While there was disappointment with only drawing 0-0 at Livingston on Sunday, Robbie Neilson’s team kept a clean sheet for the fourth game in succession.
As a result, Hearts retained their seven-point lead in the race for third spot, their main objective in the league given Rangers’ 16-point lead in second.
On the two occasions that these sides have met in the top flight in 2022-23, Rangers have emerged victorious, most notably at Tynecastle in October when they won by a 4-0 scoreline.
