Saint-Etienne get suspended point penalty for coin incident in derby

Saint-Etienne received a suspended one-point deduction on Wednesday after their Ligue 1 derby against Lyon last month was interrupted when an assistant referee was hit by a coin.

The game, which Saint-Etienne won 2-1, was stopped for almost 45 minutes just before half-time at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard as the players were ordered off the pitch.

Lyon had called for the result to be discarded and complained of coins also being thrown at their players during the warm-up.

Two supporters accused of throwing projectiles have since been identified from stadium video surveillance cameras and will go on trial in October.

Saint-Etienne are four points adrift of the relegation play-off place with two games to play this season and will be relegated if they lose at Reims this weekend.