Fiery Lyon derby with Saint-Etienne suspended for 40 MINUTES as assistant referee is hit by missile thrown from stands

Lyon, fresh from their dramatic Europa League defeat to Manchester United, found themselves trailing inside 10 minutes as Lucas Stassin broke the deadlock in the Derby Rhone-Alpes. He was shown a red card in the 23rd minute, which was downgraded to a yellow following a VAR review.

The away support at Guichard Stadium were less than impressed by what they were witnessing, with an angry reaction leading to a coin being tossed from the stands which struck one of the match officials.

The game was suspended shortly before half-time, with assistant referee Mehdi Rahmouni requiring treatment. After half an hour of uncertainty, match delegate Noel Mannino told reporters: “This projectile certainly came from between the Paret stand and the Henri-Point stand, so from the visitors' sector. He (Rahmouni) decided to return to the locker room because he was a little dizzy. We called a doctor to check on him. He is not injured. He took Doliprane. After a few minutes of rest, he decided he could resume the game.”

A dose of paracetamol allowed Rahmouni to return to the field. The contest resumed at 10:15pm local time and was eventually played to a finish, with Mannino having noted that "if a projectile were to be thrown again, we would have a definitive stoppage of the match".

Stassin netted his second of the game in the 67th minute, with USMNT star Tanner Tessmann grabbing what proved to be a consolation effort for Lyon nine minutes later. A 2-1 victory for Saint-Etienne means that they can still clamber out of the relegation zone, while sixth-placed Lyon are anxiously clinging on to the last European qualification spot in Ligue 1.