PARIS (AP) — Saint-Etienne boosted its chances of staying in Ligue 1 after winning a match which had been interrupted Sunday when a linesman was hit on the head by a projectile.
Saint-Etienne beat Lyon 2-1 to dent its local rival's hopes of qualifying directly for the Champions League.
The high-octane match was halted for 45 minutes after linesman Mehdi Rahmouni was hit by a projectile — possibly a coin — thrown from the crowd close to halftime at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.
Belgian forward Lucas Stassin scored before and after the interruption to reach 12 league goals and the 20-year-old's scoring prowess could prove crucial to keeping his side up.
Saint-Etienne moved level on points with 16th-placed Le Havre in the relegation-playoff spot, with four games left.
Lyon's goal came from American defender Tanner Tessmann's fine curler from the edge of the penalty area in the 76th minute. It was his first goal for the club.
“We needed to start the game better,” Tessmann said. “The first half was really bad.”
Match and linesman continue
French league officials met to decide whether to continue the match and agreed to do so because Rahmouni was not injured.
The match resumed at 10:15 p.m. local time with the closing stages of the first half, and Rahmouni was given a thumbs up by referee François Letexier and a warm ovation as he took up his position.
Letexier had halted the game in the 45th minute. It was unclear who threw the projectile. There were no away fans at the match for security reasons due to a high risk of clashes between rival supporters.
Saint-Etienne was leading 1-0 at the time.
Left back Léo Pétrot curled in a pinpoint cross to Stassin, who headed in from close range and celebrated among the fans.
Stassin was shown a red card in the 23rd minute for a crude foul on Lyon midfielder Corentin Tolisso, who had to be taken off, but Letexier changed his decision following a video review and Stassin received only a yellow card.
The decision enraged Lyon president John Textor.
“One of the most obvious red cards one can see is waved off,” the American posted on Instagram.
David double
Canada striker Jonathan David scored two goals and set up the other as Lille beat Auxerre 3-1 to maintain its push for a Champions League place next season.
Lille’s win moved it provisionally up to fourth place and pressured Lyon, which had to win. The top three sides in France earn an automatic place into Europe’s elite club competition, while the side in fourth enters qualifying.
Belgium right back Thomas Meunier gave Lille an early lead after being found by David, who then netted late in the first half with a clinical first-time effort.
After an own-goal from Brazilian defender Alexsandro made it 2-1, David ran through deep into injury time and held off defenders before grabbing his 16th league goal of what is likely to be his final season at Lille.
He is expected to move to a leading European club this summer. Since joining Lille in 2020, he has scored 107 goals in 228 games.
Lille’s win was soured by a freakish injury to goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier, who was accidentally bumped into by Alexsandro when the defender scored the own-goal.
“He has two or three broken teeth,” Lille coach Bruno Genesio said. “He was angry about it and I can understand. He’ll go to the dentist this week.”
Nice eyes top 3
Nice won 2-1 at home to Angers to move up to sixth place and remain in contention to qualify directly for the Champions League.
Coach Franck Haise’s side is three points behind Monaco in third spot.
Midfielder Pablo Rosario and defender Ali Abdi scored for Nice, before Yassine Belkhdim got his first goal for Angers.
Pefok scores after McKenzie sees red
United States striker Jordan Pefok scored as Reims beat Toulouse 1-0 to move further away from the relegation zone.
Pefok’s goal came soon after countryman Mark McKenzie was sent off. The Toulouse defender was shown a straight red card in the 27th minute for fouling Aurélio Buta as he raced through.
Pefok netted 12 minutes later with a looping header for Reims, which improved to 13th place.
In Sunday’s other game, Lens won 3-1 at Brest to climb above its rival and into eighth spot. ___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Jerome Pugmire, The Associated Press
