Saint-Etienne is ready for the derby in Lyon!

These are meetings which are precious in Ligue 1. In addition to the Classic between OM and PSG or the Olympico between OL and OM, the derby between Lyon and Saint-Etienne is also one of these unmissable events in a season. However, during the last two seasons, the elite have been deprived of such a spectacle. Indeed, with Saint-Etienne relegated to Ligue 2, this shock could not take place and never happened in the Coupe de France. Therefore, when the Greens officially confirmed their promotion to the upper echelon last season, some of the Lyon supporters were also happy to see their enemy neighbors back in order to rediscover the special atmosphere of a derby.

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But what would these kinds of matches be without an ounce of sporting competitiveness? While OL are showing good things at the start of the season, ASSE has had a more difficult return to the elite. Having won only two matches before this Saturday evening's match against Strasbourg, the Foréziens had to win to escape the red zone. And at the end of a more than successful performance, the Greens produced one of their best matches of the season. Authors of a remarkable second half, Mickaël Nadé's teammates scored two goals after returning from the locker room and managed a timid Strasbourg side (2-0). A victory which brought smiles back to the entire Saint-Etienne squad and to the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium which contributed to the great evening party.

ASSE supporters launch the derby

Obviously, Olivier Dall'Oglio appeared reassured at the end of this great performance. While his future was even called into question after a difficult start to the season, the former DFCO coach was happy at the microphone of DAZN at the end of the meeting: “This evening, we are very satisfied. We saw a solid team, we didn't concede a goal, which is our big guilty pleasure, so I think that will give us confidence. We were disciplined. Strasbourg has the capacity for power and speed, we knew that, but I think that's why we won the match tonight. Particularly in the first half where we were able to resist. On the second, we struggled completely to score two goals. There was a state of mind that we must keep. Ball releases? Yes for sure, I wanted to see it. Above all, I wanted to see solidity. But it’s true that that’s what we want to see too. Afterwards, we have to be even more precise on certain sequences. We needed to resist in the first half against a team that could suck us in. We knew that in the second half, we would have opportunities to drive home the point.»

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In this sense, the context is now more favorable when it comes time to play one of the matches of the season in rival lands. Next Sunday, ASSE will travel to Lyon for a derby which promises to be explosive. A meeting that the Stéphanois are eager to play. However, their coach did not want to add pressure to them this Saturday. “The Derby? I think we're already thereadmitted Olivier Dall'Oglio. It will be an important match for everyone but we first had to take points tonight. We will have time to talk about it again.» For their part, Saint-Etienne supporters have already launched hostilities with their neighbors. During their players' thank-you round, they sang several insulting chants towards OL and its supporters: “*Lyon, we send you“, “Lyonnais, oh son of a bitch» Next week's poster promises to be exciting!