Marseille’s stunning start to the Ligue 1 season which saw them win six from six games came to a spectacular end on Sunday as mid-table Valenciennes whipped them 4-1.
A double by much-travelled striker Anthony Le Taellec and one apiece from Foued Kadir – gifted to him by Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda – and a brilliant opener by Gael Danic gave Valenciennes the points with Jordan Ayew scoring a consolation in time added-on.
Marseille – who were going down to their first defeat in all competitions this season as they had drawn three and won two of their Europa League games – still top the table leading PSG by three points, although Lyon can pull to within one if they beat Bordeaux at home later on Sunday. Marseille coach Elie Baup said that Valenciennes had controlled the game from the outset and never given them a sniff. “Nothing worked for us or went right for us,” said Baup, who took over when Didier Deschamps resigned in early July. “To go in 3-0 down at half-time gave us no way back. The verdict this evening is a heavy one, brutal, and will have ramifications. We will talk about it among ourselves and work on things during the week. However, we should not dwell on such a heavy defeat for ever. “We should look ahead and think about our next challenge and how to put things right.”
Marseille – who had only conceded one goal in all Ligue 1 games this season prior to the game – went behind in the 16th minute with a superb freekick by Danic although Mandanda let rip at his wall, which he felt should have jumped higher. Le Taellec, who numbers unsuccessful spells at both Liverpool and Sunderland among his many clubs, doubled the lead in the 35th minute putting away a super cross by Danic.
Any hope Marseille had of regrouping at the break disappeared when Mandanda completely fluffed a throw out from inside his area which landed at Kadir’s feet just outside the box and he put it away with the Marseille goalkeeper vainly trying to regain his goal. Le Taellec added his second in the 65th minute with a header from another Danic cross to send the record attendance of just over 22,000 wild and give Marseille plenty to think about ahead of their home game with bitter rivals PSG next Sunday.
For Valenciennes it maintained their hold over Marseille, who have beaten them just once since the former were promoted in 2006 and who were the club that were involved in the matchfixing scandal in the 1992/93 season that brought to an inglorious end Marseille’s golden era. On Saturday, Paris Saint-Germain had geared up for a testing week with a comfortable 2-0 win at home to Sochaux with a Kevin Gameiro brace which gave PSG their fifth consecutive win in all competitions, ahead of Wednesday’s visit to Porto in the Champions League and the trip to Marseille.
