Lyonnais 2 - 0 Saint-Etienne: Lyon bounce back to form in Rhone derby

Posted Monday, October 03, 2016 by PA

Sergi Darder scored his first goal of the season as Lyon ended a run of two straight defeats with a 2-0 win over St Etienne in the Rhone derby.

Last weekend's league defeat in Lorient, followed by a slender Champions League loss at Sevilla, left Bruno Genesio hopeful of an immediate response from his team.

And former Spain Under-21 international Darder ensured his manager's wishes were realised before Rachid Ghezzal made sure late on.

Les Gones should have opened the scoring much earlier but Nabil Felipe failed to make the most of a one-on-one with Stephane Ruffier.

Les Verts responded as Vincent Pajot saw a goalbound effort deflected over by team-mate Robert Beric before Bryan Dabo flashed a half-volley wildly over from just 10 yards out.

Then, with the interval beckoning, Fekir escaped down the right before picking out Darder at the back post to head the opening goal of the game.

St Etienne offered a determined response after the break and only the upright prevented Kevin Monnet-Paquet from levelling up the derby with a superb effort.

Pajot was next to waste a decent opportunity as Anthony Lopes somehow kept out his effort when clean through before Lucas Tousart headed against the crossbar at the other end.

Then, with just a few minutes left to play, Ghezzal wrapped up the points for Lyon with a stunning effort from outside the area that left the impressive Ruffier with little chance.