St Etienne boosted their push for European qualification with a 1-0 win at fellow hopefuls Montpellier on Friday night.The only goal came in the 10th minute when Remy Cabella exchanged passes with Kevin Monnet-Pacquet and laid on a tap-in for Romain Hamouma.Stephane Ruffier had denied Giovanni Sio at the other end moments earlier and with the last action of the first half, after Kevin Theophile-Catherine fouled Nicolas Cozza, the visiting keeper saved Sio's penalty to preserve his side's lead.Benjamin Lecomte made an excellent save with his legs from Cabella and Ruffier was immediately back in the action as well to deny Keagan Dolly.Ellyes Shkiri went closer still to a Montpellier equaliser with six minutes remaining when his shot was deflected past Ruffier but rebounded to safety off the far post.The hosts could not find the goal to reward their second-half dominance, though, and fell six points behind their opponents who climb to fifth in Ligue 1.