Fri Aug 29 17:17:53 2008

Comment | Email | Print

St. Etienne hopes to end 14-year skid against Lyon

---

Saint Etienne, France (Sports Network) - St. Etienne will try to end a 14-year winless streak against seven-time defending Ligue 1 champion Lyon on Sunday in one of the fiercest rivalries in France.

St. Etienne hosts the derby at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, but it hasn't defeated Lyon in the teams' last 16 meetings. St. Etienne last beat Lyon, 3-0, in 1994.

Unfortunately for St. Etienne, it is off to a slow start. After finishing fifth in the league last season, St. Etienne has lost two of its first three matches.

"I know what this squad of players is capable of, but having watched the first three games of the season, you might ask questions about that. Few players are performing at their real level," St. Etienne coach Laurent Roussey said.

Last week, St. Etienne lost to Le Mans, 1-0 and Roussey made it clear he wasn't very pleased with the effort.

"I didn't recognize my team. I didn't see the effort the experienced players should be putting in, nor the desire of younger ones to prove themselves," he said. "This was like a carbon-copy of our game against Valenciennes (a 1-0 loss in the season opener).

"We didn't have the energy or talent to get back into the game."

Lyon won't make things any easier on St. Etienne this weekend. Karim Benzema scored his third goal of the young season last week to help Lyon top previously unbeaten Grenoble, 2-0.

Lyon is back on top of the league table - level on points with Marseille - with three games complete in the young season.

Marseille defeated Le Havre, 1-0. last weekend, but coach Eric Gerets was upset after the match after learning two fans were killed in an auto accident on the way to the game.

"It's left a bad feeling," Gerets said.

Marseille will try to continue its unbeaten start - Lyon is also at 2-0-1 - on Saturday when it hosts Sochaux.

Also Saturday, Nancy hosts Le Havre, Lorient hosts Auxerre, Grenoble hosts Monaco, Nice hosts Valenciennes, Nantes hosts Le Mans and Caen hosts PSG.

Also Sunday, Lille hosts Bordeaux and Toulouse hosts Rennes.