Nice striker David Bellion steered his side towards a vital three points as they came from behind to claim a victory over St Etienne.

The former Manchester United man netted two second-half goals to overturn Lamine Diatta's earlier opener and pull Nice four points clear of the drop zone.

The defeat will damage St Etienne's hopes of securing European football for next season and leaves them languishing in eighth, but just two points away from the top four.

It was the visitors who started the brighter with Diatta finding Bafetimbi Gomis from the right channel, but the marksman dragged his 20th-minute shot wide.

Nice responded well though and after making a promising run down the left flank, Cedric Varrault eluded defender Herita Ilunga before squaring for Bakari Kone, whose low drive was well saved by Jeremy Janot.

Araujo Ilan went close for the visitors on the half-hour mark, waltzing through the Nice defence before teeing-up Gomis, whose effort was again dragged wide of the target.

Another good goalscoring opportunity came just before the break for St Etienne with Geoffrey Dernis trying his luck from range. Goalkeeper Hugo LLoris had to be alert to twice block an awkwardly bouncing ball.

It did not take long after the break for the deadlock to be broken and Diatta managed to do so in style.

A well-worked free-kick taken by Dernis was flicked by Ilan toward the front post, where Diatta was waiting to acrobatically hammer home.

The goal appeared to spur on the desperate hosts however, and Bellion was in the thick of the action. He nearly grabbed a 52nd-minute leveller but came out second-best in a one-on-one with Janot.

St Etienne hit the post with 25 minutes remaining, when Gomis` deflected shot smashed against the upright, much to the relief of the home support.

Bellion grabbed the first of his brace in the 69th minute when he rose to head home Florent Balmont's inch-perfect cross into the corner far of the net.

And the overhaul was complete with 10 minutes to go, as Zoumana Camara handled in the area and Bellion slammed home the penalty to snatch all three points for Nice.

The game ended amid some ugly scenes, with the referee needing to produce several yellow cards following a skirmish between both sides in the dying minutes.