Lyon pocketed a logical victory in the derby against St-Etienne, which allows it to climb into the top 5 of Ligue 1. The Greens, them, continue to slide towards the bottom of the ranking.
Ligue 1 – 27th Day
 Lyon |
2 – 01 – 0 |
Saint Etienne  |
| Mr. Dembl 27 ‘ M. Dembl (P.) 90 ‘+6 |
Dream week in Lyon. Four days after their victory over Juventus Turin (1-0 in the first knockout round of the Champions League), the residents of Groupama Stadium continued with a new success in the derby against St-Etienne (2-0). The 55,000 people massed in the Décines enclosure will obviously not deny this performance, which allows them to recover regional supremacy after the defeat of the first leg (1-0 at Geoffroy-Guichard on October 6) and replace their team in the top 5 of the ranking, but did not live as crazy a night as Wednesday.
Not surprisingly, the adversity proposed by Loïs Diony and his teammates was not the same as that of CR7 and his gang. The Greens, in crisis, unable to win in Ligue 1 for more than a month (5 defeats and 1 draw), displayed a feverishness unworthy of a poster of this level, and this from the kick-off. However, it took half an hour to see the first serious opportunity to score for OL, converted by a header from Moussa Dembélé on a free kick well struck by Terrier (27th).
Two goals denied for OL
Despite a clear dominance (78% possession at half time), the men of Rudi Garcia did not manage to drive the point home before the break and on returning from the locker room, the Greens were the first to be dangerous, timidly … Denis Bouanga, very discreet in the first act, was finally able to put Anthony Lopes to contribution, but the Portuguese goalkeeper intervened twice against the former Lorient, on a strike in a closed angle (58th) and a vicious free kick (74th).
In the meantime, things had also happened in the Saint-Etienne area, but the VAR canceled a goal from Lucas Tousart’s arm (64th) and a mowing of Moulin sur Dembélé, offside by a few millimeters (67th). Another false joy for Groupama Stadium, a new goal denied, this time to Karl Toko Ekambi, for an offside for Dembélé who was on the path of his strike (80th). The last for Groupama Stadium, which was finally able to exult a second time when Dembélé transformed from a panenka a penalty sanctioning a voluntary hand of Kolodziejczak, on a new shot well placed by Toko Ekambi (96th).
Thanks to these three points, OL therefore returns to 5th place in the ranking, tied on points with Montpellier (6th) and Monaco (7th) but still six and seven units from Lille (4th) and Rennes (3rd), who also won this weekend. The Greens, who concede their seventh straight away away in the league, continue their long tumble towards the bottom of the rankings. Fortunately for them, all their pursuers (Dijon, Nîmes, Amiens, Toulouse), in other words their competitors for the maintenance, did not take any point on them.