17th August, 2014
Marcelo Bielsa’s first home game as coach of Marseille ended in a chorus of jeers after a deflating 2-0 defeat to southern rivals Montpellier on Sunday afternoon.
A goal in each half from Anthony Mounier and Morgan Sanson handed Montpellier the points and left OM still looking for their first competitive win since Argentine Bielsa was appointed in the summer with the brief of reviving their flagging fortunes.
However, it was a good afternoon for Saint-Etienne, who came from behind to beat Reims 3-1 at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard and are so far the only side to have won their opening two games of the new Ligue 1 campaign.
Marseille’s Stade Velodrome was holding its first game since work finished on a new main stand, completing refurbishment work done for Euro 2016, which France will host.
A crowd of 53,000, including UEFA president Michel Platini, watched OM looking to claim victory after throwing away a two-goal lead to draw 3-3 in Bastia last weekend, but Montpellier put a spanner in the works when they opened the scoring in the 18th minute, Mounier lobbing into the net with Steve Mandanda off his line.
As Marseille pushed forward in search of an equaliser in the second period, Bielsa took off Brice Dja-Djedje and sent on an extra forward in Michy Batshuayi, but they were hit on the break as Mounier’s low cross was converted by Morgan Sanson in the 68th minute.
A frustrating day for the hosts was summed up soon after when Romain Alessandrini crashed a shot off the post, and although Andre-Pierre Gignac then put the ball in the net, the effort was disallowed for a handball by Alessandrini.
After holding champions Paris Saint-Germain last weekend, Reims took the lead in Saint-Etienne just before the half-hour mark when summer signing Benjamin Moukandjo, the Cameroon international, burst into the box and sent in a shot that deflected off Loic Perrin and into the net.
They nearly struck again just before the interval, when Stephane Ruffier did well to tip a net-bound Gaetan Charbonnier strike over the bar.
However, Reims hadn’t won in Saint-Etienne in the top flight since 1959, when Just Fontaine scored a hat-trick in a 5-2 victory, and they will have to wait at least another year after Les Verts fought back in the second half.
A brilliant Max Gradel free-kick from 20 yards brought the hosts level in the 61st minute, before summer signing Kevin Monnet-Paquet, formerly of Lorient, headed in a Mevlut Erding cross at the back post.
Turkey striker Erding then put the seal on the win eight minutes from time, appearing unmarked to convert a low cross from the right by Romain Hamouma.
Later on Sunday, Monaco will be looking for their first points under new coach Leonardo Jardim when they face Bordeaux away.
On Saturday, PSG brushed aside SC Bastia 2-0 with Lucas and Edinson Cavani on target, but their win was overshadowed by the early loss of Zlatan Ibrahimovic due to a side strain and an after-match incident in the tunnel which saw Bastia’s Brazilian striker Brandao headbutt Thiago Motta, leaving the PSG player with a bloodied nose.