St-Etienne inflict more misery on Lyon

AFP, PARIS: Saint-Etienne inflicted a third league defeat in four matches on faltering bitter rivals Lyon and bolstered their European aspirations with a 2-0 victory in Sunday’s tempestuous Rhone derby.
Kevin Monnet-Paquet scored a ninth-minute opener at Saint-Etienne’s Stade Geoffroy Guichard and Romain Hamouma slotted in a second on 22 minutes as Les Verts closed to within a point of fourth-placed Lyon.
The visitors finished with nine men as substitute Rachid Ghezzal and Corentin Tolisso were dismissed in stoppage time to further sour a dreadful evening for Lyon.
Saint-Etienne, who face Manchester United in the Europa League last 32 this month, have won three games in a row in Ligue 1, while Lyon’s Champions League hopes look doomed after falling 12 points behind the top three.
Both sides suffered French Cup last-32 exits in midweek, although Lyon were boosted by the return from injury of leading scorer Alexandre Lacazette.
But an early defensive blunder from Emanuel Mammana proved fatal for Lyon as Saint-Etienne won back possession on the edge of the area with Monnet-Paquet firing through the legs of Anthony Lopes.
Tolisso headed against the crossbar after he was left unmarked from a Nabil Fekir cross, but a rash decision from Lopes resulted in the hosts grabbing a second goal shortly after.

St-Etienne inflict more misery on Lyon

AFP, PARIS: Saint-Etienne inflicted a third league defeat in four matches on faltering bitter rivals Lyon and bolstered their European aspirations with a 2-0 victory in Sundays tempestuous Rhone derby. Kevin Monnet-Paquet scored a ninth-minute opener at Saint-Etiennes Stade Geoffroy Guichard and Romain Hamouma slotted in a second on 22 minutes as Les Verts closed to within a point of fourth-placed Lyon. The visitors finished with nine men as substitute Rachid Ghezzal and Corentin Tolisso were dismissed in stoppage time to further sour a dreadful evening for Lyon. Saint-Etienne, who face Manchester United in the Europa League last 32 this month, have won three games in a row in Ligue 1, while Lyons Champions League hopes look doomed after falling 12 points behind the top three. Both sides suffered French Cup last-32 exits in midweek, although Lyon were boosted by the return from injury of leading scorer Alexandre Lacazette. But an early defensive blunder from Emanuel Mammana proved fatal for Lyon as Saint-Etienne won back possession on the edge of the area with Monnet-Paquet firing through the legs of Anthony Lopes. Tolisso headed against the crossbar after he was left unmarked from a Nabil Fekir cross, but a rash decision from Lopes resulted in the hosts grabbing a second goal shortly after.