Romain Hamouma missed a penalty before scoring a crucial away goal to give Saint-Etienne a 1-0 half-time lead over Milsami in the first leg of their Europa League tie this evening.

The Ligue 1 side dominated the early exchanges against the Moldovan club, and the visitors were gifted the opportunity to break the deadlock when Benjamin Corgnet forced his way into the box before winning a penalty after a fine run.

However, Hamouma was unable to capitalise on the opportunity from 12 yards as Radu Mitu guessed correctly to make a fine save.

Saint-Etienne continued to pile the pressure on after the missed chance, and they tested Mitu again when Benoit Assou-Ekotto's free kick was pushed to safety.

A deserved breakthrough finally arrived just five minutes before the interval when Milsami lost focus to allow the unmarked Hamouma to tap home after Mitu had denied Nolan Roux.