Champion Marseille start with embarrassing loss
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Olympique Marseille made an embarrassing start to the defence of its Ligue 1 title with a shock 1-2 home defeat by promoted Caen on Saturday.
A header by midfielder Youssef El-Arabi five minutes from time silenced the Velodrome stadium and gave the visitors from Normandy a stunning victory.
Marseille, which secured its first league crown since 1992 last May, looked nervous throughout the match but seemed to have escaped with a draw after a late equalizer from substitute forward Mamadou Samassa until El-Arabi struck.
Caen deservedly opened the scoring when Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda failed to parry a seemingly harmless angled effort from midfielder Nicolas Seube early in the second half.
Marseille coach Didier Deschamps was not pleased and made it clear the club, very quiet so far on the transfer market, needed to purchase new players. "Caen were very determined and deserved to win but we showed many weaknesses," Deschamps said. "We made errors and lacked determination," he added. "We were the favorites and should have won that match. Now we know we need reinforcements if we want to be competitive."
Last season's runner-up Olympique Lyon also struggled, managing only a 0-0 home draw with Monaco, although it did step up a gear after the break and created several chances.
Superb volleys from Paris St Germain's Benin midfielder Stephane Sessegnon and newcomer Nene helped secure a 3-1 home win over St Etienne that made the Parisians early leaders. Toulouse might have to pay a heavy price for a 2-0 win over promoted Brest when France striker Andre-Pierre Gignac was taken away on a stretcher after twisting his ankle in the second half.
