Lyon win in France to boost Euro hopes

PARIS: Lyon built on their midweek Champions League win over Juventus as Moussa Dembele’s brace gave them a 2-0 win over bitter derby rivals Saint-Etienne on Sunday, lifting them up to fifth in France’s top flight.

Former Celtic striker Dembele was left unmarked to convert a Martin Terrier free-kick delivery with his shoulder to open the scoring just before the half-hour mark.

He then netted a last-gasp penalty for his 16th league goal of the campaign, sealing a win which increased the pressure on Saint-Etienne coach Cla­ude Puel.

It was a third consecutive victory in 10 days for Lyon, who have been enduring a disappointing season in Ligue 1 and are still seven points away from Rennes in third place, the last Champions League qualifying berth in France.

Rudi Garcia’s side had outfought Juventus to claim a 1-0 win against all expectation in midweek in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.

They are due to head to Italy later this month for the return leg, where they will hope to advance from a knockout tie in that competition for the first time in a decade.

Meanwhile, they now go into a French Cup semi-final at home to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday further boosted by this result, after claiming a deserved victory against their str­u­ggling opponents.

“It is good what we are doing at the moment. We are playing good football, we are solid too, and that is three games now without conceding a goal,” Garcia told Canal Plus.

“We are playing games every three days but the fatigue goes away quicker when you’re winning. Beating Juve gave the players a big confidence boost, for sure.”

Lyon had two further goals disallowed in the second half at the Groupama Stadium, with Lucas Tousart — who scored against Juventus — having one effort ruled out in the 64th minute for handball.