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Snubbed Lacazette scores hat-trick as Lyon win derby

ByReuters

Updated 08/11/2015 at 22:51 GMT

Three days after being snubbed by France coach Didier Deschamps, Alexandre Lacazette scored a hat-trick to send Olympique Lyonnais up to second in Ligue 1 with a 3-0 home win against arch rivals St Etienne on Sunday.

Lyon's French forward Alexandre Lacazette celebrates after scoring a second goal during the French L1 football match between Lyon and Saint-Etienne at the Gerland stadium in Lyon, southeastern France, on November 8, 2015

Image credit: AFP

Lacazette, who was omitted by Deschamps from the national squad for the friendlies against Germany and England after his difficult start to the season, was in the mood to prove the France boss wrong.
Lyon now have 25 points from 13 games and trail runaway leaders Paris St Germain, who crushed Toulouse 5-0 on Saturday, by 10 points while St Etienne lie fifth on 22 points.
"I didn't score in big games last year, that was my weakness. I've done that tonight," Lacazette told Canal Plus.
The derby game got off to a dull start, until Lacazette accelerated at the edge of the box and flicked the ball past Stephane Ruffier to put the hosts ahead four minutes before halftime.
Just before the hour, Lacazette doubled the tally, raking the ball home after Ruffier had parried Rafael's shot into his path.
He made it 3-0 in added time, firing home with an angled strike after collecting a through ball from Jordan Ferri, who himself had been played in nicely by Mathieu Valbuena, who played despite being involved in recent controversy.
Karim Benzema was put under formal investigation on Thursday in connection with an alleged attempt to blackmail his France teammate Valbuena and both men have been left out of Deschamps' squad.
Monaco were left in ninth place with 20 points after they lost 3-1 at Girondins de Bordeaux.
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Monaco's Portuguese midfielder Joao Moutinho (L) vies with Bordeaux's French defender Cedric Yambere during the French L 1 football match Bordeaux vs Monaco at the Matmut Atlantique stadium in Bordeaux, southwestern France, on November 8, 2015

Image credit: AFP

The principality side went ahead on 23 minutes thanks to Helder Costa's goal before Nicolas Maurice-Belay, Cedric Yambere and Jaroslav Plasil hit back.
Olympique de Marseille's disappointing season continued with a 1-0 home defeat against Nice earlier on Sunday that left Marseille in 13th place on 15 points.
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