PARIS: Striker Moussa Dembele scored with a majestic header five minutes into injury time as Olympique Lyonnais won 2-1 at St Etienne on Sunday, leapfrogging theur local rivals into third place in Ligue 1.

Dembele was back-pedaling and had two defenders marking him near the penalty spot, but still rose to meet Leo Dubois’ cross from the right with a powerful header past goalkeeper Stephane Ruffier. Less than a minute earlier, the former Celtic striker had missed with a far easier header.

“It was a great derby, with chances at both ends,” Lyon coach Bruno Genesio said. “We showed we’re a real team that can fight back.”

Winger Romain Hamouma scored with a fine looping header of his own to put St Etienne ahead in the 21st minute, timing his run to meet left back Gabriel Silva’s cross.

Lyon had gone close to taking the lead in spectacular style after 12 minutes. Netherlands forward Memphis Depay controlled a long ball with just one touch and clipped a 25-meter lob with the next, only for Ruffier to make an outstanding tip-over save.

Midway through the second half, Depay’s close-range shot was blocked by the arm of defender Loic Perrin and France forward Nabil Fekir sent Ruffier the wrong way from the spot.

Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes distinguished himself with a double save from close range in the 88th taking his tally for the match to seven saves.

“Antho was exceptional once again,” Genesio said.

In the 94th, Dembele headed over from six meters out. Moments later, St Etienne failed to clear the ball properly. The ball came back in from the right, once again from the accurate boot of Dubois, and Dembele netted to trigger celebrations on Lyon’s bench.

“We had no right to lose this game,” Perrin said. “We had chances to score a second goal.” But both Lyon and St Etienne are a long way behind runaway leaders Paris St Germain now and their realistic ambition is to catch Lille in second place, which guarantees automatic qualification for the Champions League.

Lyon are three points behind Lille after 21 games, while fourth-placed St Etienne are one behind Lyon.

PSG are unbeaten in the league with 53 points, and 13 points ahead of Lille, having played two games less.In another match, Olympique Marseille scraped a 1-0 win at Caen to take some pressure off coach Rudi Garcia.

Morgan Sanson headed in a cross from fellow midfielder Kevin Strootman in the 47th minute, giving last season’s Europa League runners-up their first win in Ligue 1 since Nov. 25 and moving the team up to seventh place.

Normandy side Caen, which are 16th, had defender Frederic Guilbert sent off for a second yellow card in the 52nd but went close to equalising in stoppage time.

Marseille moved one point behind sixth-placed Montpellier, who drew 0-0 at Rennes on Sunday.

Denmark striker Andreas Cornelius scored a 77th-minute winner as midtable Bordeaux won 1-0 at home to 18th-placed Dijon.

Also, Angers beat Nantes 1-0 with a winner four minutes into injury time from midfielder Angelo Fulgini.

Published in Dawn, January 22nd, 2019