Lyonnais 2 - 2 Saint-Etienne - Lyon share points with St Etienne

Posted Monday, April 20, 2015 by PA

Lyon returned to the top of the Ligue 1 table after securing a 2-2 draw from a topsy-turvy Rhone Valley derby match against St Etienne at the Stade de Gerland on Sunday night.

Clinton N'Jie handed the hosts the lead midway through the first half before Lindsay Rose saw red for Hubert Fournier's high flyers and Max Gradel converted from the spot to level matters.

Romain Hamouma put St Etienne ahead on the brink of half-time but the home side pressed for a result and Christophe Jallet equalised at the start of the second half to clinch a point that sends his side to the summit.

Lyon sit level on points with reigning champions Paris St Germain, who have a game in hand, while their opponents are eight points further back in fifth.

Lyon showed some good early intent as Nabil Fekir forced Stephane Ruffier to punch his dipping 30-yard free-kick clear before N'Jie saw a goalbound effort hacked off the line by Loic Perrin.

Ruffier was beaten just before the 20-minute mark when Fekir's shot sailed by him but the crossbar came to the St Etienne keeper's rescue before Lyon took a deserved lead soon after.

Fekir was the architect and, after seeing off Jeremy Clement, his pass found N'Jie on the right of the box who fired beyond Ruffier from a tight angle.

The hosts' joy turned to agony less than five minutes later, though, when Rose was given his marching orders after handling Landry N'Guemo's shot inside the area.

Gradel took charge of the resulting spot-kick and confidently sent Anthony Lopes the wrong way to level for the visitors.

The 10 men of Lyon almost got to the break with scores level but, in first-half stoppage time, a sleeping Henri Bedimo allowed Hamouma to beat the offside trap and slot beyond Ruffier to send Les Verts into the break ahead.

Undeterred by the one-man disadvantage, Lyon hit back just two minutes after the restart when Jallet rose above his marker to head Fekir's free-kick beyond Ruffier at the near post.

Gradel was lucky not to see red after grabbing Fekir by the throat as tempers threatened to boil over but Lyon continued to stand firm against the 11 men of St Etienne.

Perrin almost put through his own net on 70 minutes when he headed a Lyon corner against the woodwork before Hamouma worked Lopes at the other end with a tricky shot from distance.

Both sides had chances late on but Clement Grenier's free-kick for Lyon was punched clear before Gradel saw a seemingly goal-bound shot hacked clear by Samuel Umtiti, and the scores remained level as referee Said Ennjimi brought the final game of the weekend to an end.