Olympique Lyon were mocked by Saint-Etienne fans with a banner inscription ‘Merci Maguire’ after they lost the Derby Rhone-Alpes in the French Ligue 1 by 2-1.
Following their disappointing exit from the UEFA Europa League on Thursday, Lyon’s woes were compounded at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard on Sunday as their push for Champions League football suffered a huge blow.
The defeat got more interesting after Saint-Etienne fans were spotted lifting banners and wearing jerseys with ‘Merci Maguire’, which means ‘Thanks Maguire’.
England defender Harry Maguire scored a last-minute header in the Europa League, which resulted in a dramatic turnaround for Manchester United in their 7-6 aggregate win at Old Trafford.
The result boosted Saint-Etienne’s Ligue 1 survival hopes but also put an end to their six-game Ligue 1 winless run against Lyon since October 2019.
How the Derby Rhone-Alpes went down
As expected, Saint-Etienne against Lyon produced some lively scenes as Lucas Stassin’s heroics made the difference for the hosts.
Stassin’s 10th-minute opener was the only difference in the tense first 45 minutes, but just before the break, the game was put on hold for over 40 minutes.
The long delay was necessitated after a projectile was thrown at an assistant referee which raised questions about officials’ safety and the players were sent into the dressing rooms.
Meanwhile, as Saint-Etienne await further sanctions from the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) for their fans’ behaviour, Stassin doubled their lead with his second goal of the night in the 67th minute.
A few moments later, Lyon pulled a goal back through American midfielder Tanner Tessmann who scored his first Ligue 1 goal since his arrival for Venezia last summer.
What next for Lyon & Saint-Etienne in Ligue 1
Both teams find themselves on different halves of the table, while Lyon are challenging to secure a spot for European football next season, Saint-Etienne are fighting for their survival in the French Ligue 1.
As a result of Sunday’s loss, Paulo Fonseca’s Lyon dropped to sixth in the league table with 51 points after 30 matches and they are four points behind second-placed Marseille with four games left to play for.
Saint-Etienne, on the other hand, are still in the relegation zone with 27 points from 30 games, but they are three points adrift of safety.
The Greens will visit Strasbourg for their next Ligue 1 fixture on Saturday, April 26 while Lyon will hope to return to winning ways at the Groupama Stadium when they play host to Rennes on the same day.
