European round-up: Lyon cup clash with Paris FC abandoned after more crowd trouble in French football
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Updated 17/12/2021 at 22:02 GMT
An intriguing Coupe de France meeting between the Ligue 1 side and the French capital's second club failed to restart after half-time after crowd trouble and pitch invasions. In Rome, defender Acerbi sent a message to critics of Maurizio Sarri's side after heading home as Lazio beat struggling Genoa, while Celta Vigo had the better of a mid-table meeting with Espanyol in La Liga.
Supporters and security staff members react near a flare during the French Cup round of 64 football match between Paris FC and Olympique Lyonnais (OL) at the Charlety stadium in Paris, on December 17, 2021. - The match was interrupted due to incidents in
Image credit: Getty Images
There was yet more crowd trouble in French football as Lyon's Coupe de France meeting with second-tier Paris FC was abandoned at half-time.
The match was paused amid clashes in the stands at Stade Charlety, with flares thrown and stewards struggling to get supporters back under control.
An attempted resumption was then blighted by hundreds of pitch invaders.
France's domestic season has been marred by problems off-the-field, with a number of high-profile encounters overshadowed by issues with supporters.
Dimitri Payet was struck by a bottle during a November meeting with Lyon, the second time that the Marseille captain had been targeted by projectiles this season.
Marseille supporters have been embroiled in a number of incidents, while trouble has also occurred at Lens and Angers.
Vicncent Labrune, the president of the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) described the widespread issues as "a gangrene that could kill us”, and urged the government to meet with LFP officials in a bid to better combat such incidents.
Before the stoppage, the French capital's second club had taken an early lead through Gaetan Laura.
Moussa Dembele was able to equalise for Lyon on the stroke of half-time, leaving the match intriguingly poised at 1-1.
Paris FC are fourth in an incredibly competitive Ligue 2 as it nears the halfway point of the season.
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Elsewhere, Lazio climbed to eighth in Serie A with a 3-1 victory over relegation battlers Genoa, but it was the celebration of defender Francesco Acerbi that dominated the post-match discussion in the Italian capital.
Acerbi appeared to put his finger to his lips and 'shush' the home crowd after heavy criticism of Maurizio Sarri's under-performing side.
After Pedro had opened the scoring in the first half, Lazio struggled to break down a resolute Genoese side, and were grateful when Acerbi headed home Luis Alberto's cross 15 minutes from time.
Mattia Zaccagni put the result beyond doubt soon after before a late consolation from Filippo Melegoni for the visitors.
“I don’t give a damn what anyone says, that is part of our job,” an acerbic Acerbi told DAZN afterwards.
“Thank goodness people don’t know what happens in the locker room. We are certainly not happy being 10th in the table considering the coach and squad we have at our disposal.
“We are giving it our all here. We had to win today at all costs and we did it, also by playing fairly well."
Genoa, now under the management of Andriy Shevchenko, remain in the bottom three.
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An early goal from Santi Mina set Celta Vigo on their way to a win in a meeting in the middle with Espanyol.
Iago Aspas added a second and substitute Denis Suarez also netted late on in a 3-1 victory.
The win takes Celta Vigo up to 12th, though several clubs below them have two games in hand. Espanyol are ninth, one point and one place below cross-city rivals Barcelona, who play Elche this weekend.
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