“Sunday’s Rhône derby produced one of the most high-profile shocks of the Ligue 1 season so far, as Christophe Galtier’s Saint-Étienne cruised to a 3-0 victory against their bitter rivals Lyon, with a result which saw the home side end their twenty-year wait for a derby victory at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard. The fixture, which sees the traditionally industrial city of Saint-Étienne clash against its historically bourgeoisie neighbour Lyon, is usually always a closely fought contest, so the scoreline’s large margin will come as an even greater surprise.” backpagefootball

Florian Thauvin’s pursuit of excellence
“There hasn’t been too many complaints for Marseille fans this season. Sitting alone in first place through 40% of the season doesn’t lend too much to criticism, especially when one takes into account how disappointing last season was both domestically and in the Champions League. This iteration of Marseille has been one of the more eye pleasing to date. Marcelo Bielsa has brought an intoxicating style to the Veledrome through a combination of a high pressing tempo and reinvigorating the likes of Andre Pierre Gignac and Dimitri Payet to levels we haven’t seen in years.” backpagefootball