Sochaux spurred by first-half goals

By Pavle Gognidze at Lokomotivi stadium

First-half goals from Ilan and Grégory Paisley ensured FC Sochaux-Montbéliard opened their UEFA Cup Group D campaign with an impressive victory away to Georgia's FC Dinamo Tbilisi.

Sochaux strikes
Brazilian striker Ilan opened the scoring on 18 minutes after a fine solo run through the Dinamo defence, then Paisley connected with Jérémy Mathieu's corner eight minutes before half-time to put Sochaux in complete command. The French side were pushed back in the second half, but survived heavy Dinamo pressure to claim the points.

Ilan opening
While the home side looked lively in the opening exchanges, the Sochaux defence was rarely troubled. At the other end, Ilan shot over from the edge of the area early on, before bringing the game to life on 18 minutes.

Winning goals
The Brazilian darted through the Dinamo defence, beat Lasha Salukvadze then tapped the ball past a helpless Zurab Mamaladze in the home goal to put the French side in front. Sochaux were in control and doubled their lead 19 minutes later as Mathieu sent in a corner and defender Paisley rose above the Dinamo defence to head in his side's second.

Melkadze misses
Dinamo, the only surviving team from this season's first qualifying round, had failed to get a shot on target in the opening period, but started the second half brightly. Levan Melkadze raced clear with only Teddy Richert to beat, but the goalkeeper produced a good save as Guy Lacombe's side came under pressure. Melkadze spurned another great chance on 57 minutes, directing a close-range header wide.

Fading hope
The last chance of the game fell to Sochaux, Mickaël Isabey rifling a shot from the edge of the area against a post as the Georgian side's hopes faded away. They now travel to face Newcastle United FC on 4 November, while Sochaux also meet Newcastle next, on 25 November.