Olympique de Marseille’s shambolic start to the season continued on Sunday when they slumped to a 2-1 home defeat by promoted Angers SCO, while Hatem Ben Arfa inspired OGC Nice to a 4-1 win over high-flying AS Saint-Etienne.
Angers, who had not won at the Stade Velodrome since 1978, prevailed thanks to goals by Thomas Mangani, with a penalty, and Romain Thomas. Michy Batshuayi reduced the deficit with a late spot-kick for Marseille.
Second-placed Saint-Etienne lost the chance to narrow the gap on leaders Paris Saint-Germain when Nice’s Ben Arfa got his second brace in two games, before the Azureans went down to nine men when Nampalys Mendy and Maxime Le Marchand were sent off.
Photo: Reuters
Vincent Koziello and Jean-Michel Seri were also on target for Nice, while Saint-Etienne, who remained second with 16 points from eight games, had scored through Loic Perrin after 19 minutes.
L’OM coach Marcelo Bielsa resigned after the first game and their fortunes have not improved.
Following crowd trouble during a 1-1 draw against Olympique Lyonnais the previous weekend, the North and South stands of the Velodrome had been closed after a preliminary ruling by the French league.
The sanction is likely to get heavier when the league’s disciplinary committee makes a definitive ruling on Oct. 15 after Marseille fans threw glass bottles on to the pitch the previous Sunday, causing a 23-minute interruption.
Angers got off to a solid start with Fode Dore proving a dangerous threat to the Marseille defense.
In the 37th minute, Remy Cabella fouled Arnold Bouka Moutou in the penalty area and Magani converted the resulting penalty.
Marseille stepped up a gear after the interval, but Ludovic Butelle made a couple of superb saves to deny Batshuayi and Bouna Sarr.
However, the visitors doubled their lead in the 70th minute when Thomas headed home Billy Ketkeophomphone’s cross from the left.
Marseille cut the deficit 11 minutes from time when Batshuayi beat Butelle from the spot after Lucas Ocampos had been fouled.
In Sunday’s other matches, AS Monaco let their lead slip three times in a 3-3 draw at En Avant de Guingamp as Nicolas Benezet, who scored a brace, struck late to deny the principality side a second victory in a row.
Bernardo Silva, Andrea Raggi and Nabil Dirar scored for Monaco, but Sloan Privat and Benezet, who got the equalizer in the 89th minute, canceled out the visitors’ lead.
Montpellier Herault, the 2011-2012 champions, got their first win of the season with a 2-1 victory over Lorient.
Jonas Martin hit the winner in the 57th minute after Lorient’s Raffidine Abdullah — who was later sent off — had canceled out Ramy Bensebaini’s opener.
Additional reporting by AFP
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