Lyon keeper banned over shirt antics

The New York Times 20:59 - 13 February 2017

Lyon's French-Portuguese goalkeeper Anthony Lopes reacts at the end of the French Ligue 1 football match between Guingamp and Lyon on February 11, 2017 at the Roudourou stadium in Guingamp, western France

Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes will miss Sundays visit of Dijon in Ligue 1 with a one-match ban for scribbling out the name of arch rivals Saint-Etienne on his jersey.

Teams in this year's French Cup are wearing special commemorative shirts to mark the 100th anniversary of the competition, with each featuring the names of all the former winners.

But during Lyon's 2-1 extra-time defeat at Marseille in the last 32 last month, television cameras showed Portugal international Lopes had crossed out the reference to six-time champions Saint-Etienne.

Not only did the stunt fall foul of the French federation, but Lyon then finished with nine men in a 2-0 loss to Saint-Etienne in an ill-tempered Rhone derby five days later.