French champions Olympique de Marseille slumped to a shock defeat to newcomers Stade Malherbe Caen as Paris Saint-Germain got off to a flying start to sit top of Ligue 1 after the first day of the season on Saturday.
Marseille landed their first title success since 1992 last term, but Didier Deschamps’ side were reeling after falling 2-1 at home to the Normandy side.
Olympique Lyonnais, last season’s runners-up, also failed to sparkle as they were held to a goalless draw at home to Monaco, as AJ Auxerre, third last time out, were held 2-2 at home by Lorient.
PHOTO: AFP
By contrast, PSG came through 3-1 winners against visiting Saint-Etienne to give the side from the capital hope of success after a poor campaign last season.
Marseille were a shadow of the side that won Ligue 1 last season, with Ligue 2 winners Caen looking the more dangerous as Nicolas Seube gave them the lead after 53 minutes at the Stade Velodrome.
Deschamps made two quick substitutions, with Mamadou Samassa coming on for Andre Ayew and Hatem Ben Arfa replacing Mathieu Valbuena, and it initially paid off with Samassa equalizing after 77 minutes, but the points slipped through their fingers when Youssef El Arabi fired in through the legs of goalkeeper Steve Mandanda four minutes from time.
“Caen did what they had to do,” said Deschamps, whose pre-season preparations had been hampered by top scorer Mamadou Niang’s desire to leave for Fenerbahce. “We tried to prepare the best way, but a lot of the players are not at the same level. There are also things happening off the pitch, but this is not an excuse.”
PSG, 13th last season after going six matches without a win at the end of the campaign, achieved their first success in the opening match of the season since 2005.
The French Cup winners hit the ground running against Saint-Etienne, who finished 17th last season.
Not even a half-empty stadium, rain and pre-match clashes between police and fans that resulted in 246 arrests could dampen Parisian spirits as Mevlut Erding netted the first goal of the season after just five minutes. The Turkish striker picked up a cross from Guillaume Hoarau to fire in between the legs of Jeremie Janot in the Saint-Etienne goal.
Saint-Etienne missed a chance to equalize after 25 minutes when Bakary Sako found himself alone in front of Gregory Coupet, but the PSG goalkeeper proved up to the task.
Dimitri Payet grabbed the equalizer after 39 minutes, only for Stephane Sessegnon to put the hosts ahead again three minutes later with an acrobatic shot which hit the post, before grazing Janot’s arm and finishing in the back of the net.
The hosts dominated the second half, with Brazilian striker Nene opening his account for PSG after 82 minutes, condemning Saint-Etienne to defeat for their 19th consecutive season opener.
Elsewhere, Nancy won 2-1 at Racing Club de Lens, Stade Rennais were held 1-1 by visiting Lille OSC, while promoted Arles-Avignon and Stade Brestois 29 fell to Sochaux-Montbeliard (2-1) and Toulouse (2-0) respectively.
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