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Evian picked up their first Ligue 1 win in seven attempts to edge away from the drop zone with a 1-0 victory over relegation rivals Toulouse.
In a match delayed by 24 hours due to heavy snow in the Haute-Savoie region, Adrien Thomasson scored just four minutes in and that proved enough for a much-needed win as Toulouse's second-half renaissance was cut short by a red card for Pavle Ninkov.
The result sees Evian move above Toulouse and move out of the bottom three.
The hosts made the perfect start as they found themselves one up inside four minutes.
Yeltsin Tejeda was the creator and his pass fell at the feet of Thomasson who made no mistake with his right foot, confidently sending a first-time effort beyond Ali Ahamada.
The hosts continued to create the better oportunites and, when Cedric Cambon wriggled free on the counter, his precise delivery seemed to hand Thomasson an easy opportunity for a second but his header ended up just the wrong side of the left post.
Despite being dominated for the opening hour, Toulouse did fashion an excellent chance to level after Daniel Wass relinquished possession to Martin Braithwaite but, after bursting into the area and rounding goalkeeper Benjamin Leroy, the Denmark international could only fire over.
The visitors continued to grow into the game and only some alert defending, firstly from Cambon and then Fabien Camus, prevented Toulouse from levelling early in the second half.
Then, with just over an hour played, La Tefece's afternoon went from bad to worse when they were reduced to 10 men.
Ninkov hauled down Cedric Barbosa when through on goal and referee Benoit Bastien was left with no choice but to show the Serbia defender a straight red card.
Despite having one player fewer, Toulouse continued to press and almost levelled when a seemingly offside Wissam Ben Yedder saw his effort superbly saved with only Leroy to beat.
Toulouse's number 10 was gifted another superb opportunity for a leveller with added time looming but, after once again escaping the attentions of the hosts' defence following Etienne Didot's pass, he was unable to capitalise as the alert Leroy came to his team's rescue with a smart save.
Evian had a late chance to wrap up all three points but Ahamada made a decent stop to prevent Wass on the counter, after he combined with Camus, but in the end that proved inconsequential as Evian moved out of the bottom three with a maximum point haul.
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TOU
