A brace from Lucas Stassin gave Saint-Étienne a crucial 2-1 win over Olympique Lyon in the Rhône Derby — a match overshadowed by crowd trouble that led to a 20-minute suspension after a linesman was struck by an object thrown from the stands.

The clash, part of Matchday 30 in Ligue 1, boosted Les Verts’ hopes of avoiding relegation and dealt a blow to Lyon’s push for a Champions League spot. The referee, François Letexier, halted the game just before halftime when assistant Mehdi Rahmouni was hit in the head by a coin thrown from the crowd at Geoffroy-Guichard stadium.

At that point, Saint-Étienne were already 1-0 up thanks to an early goal from Stassin, who had fired the hosts in front before the chaos. After consulting with league officials, the teams returned to the pitch twenty minutes later to finish the first half stoppage time.

Stassin stars; Lyon’s reaction comes too late

In the second half, Eirik Horneland’s men doubled their lead in the 67th minute, once again through Lucas Stassin, who bagged his second and sent the now-calmer home fans into celebration mode. Olympique Lyon managed to pull one back through Tanner Tessmann, but despite a late push, they couldn’t find the equalizer. The loss is a major setback in their European ambitions.

With the win, Saint-Étienne are now level on points with Le Havre, who sit in the relegation playoff spot, and just three behind Angers, who occupy the last safe spot. Meanwhile, Lyon drop to sixth in the table — outside of the Champions League places — though they remain only two points behind Lille, who are currently fourth.