Ligue 1: Marseille Endure Late Loss To Lyon As Monaco Claims Thrilling Victory Over Strasbourg

Add as a preferred source on Google

Marseille faced a challenging start to the Ligue 1 season, suffering their second defeat in three matches. They lost 1-0 to Lyon after CJ Egan-Riley received a red card. Earlier, Roberto De Zerbi's team experienced a last-minute loss to Rennes but bounced back with a 5-2 victory over Paris FC. However, another late setback occurred at Groupama Stadium.

Egan-Riley's dismissal in the 29th minute left Marseille vulnerable. The former Burnley player fouled Malick Fofana as the last defender. Despite Lyon's dominance, Marseille held them scoreless until the 87th minute when captain Leonardo Balerdi scored an own goal after a chaotic goalmouth scramble involving Nicolas Tagliafico and Pavel Sulc.

Lyon joined Paris Saint-Germain at the top of the table with maximum points from three games. PSG had secured an impressive 6-3 victory over Toulouse on Saturday. Meanwhile, Marseille found themselves in 10th place, trailing by six points.

Earlier on Sunday, Monaco rebounded from their 1-0 loss to Lille by defeating Strasbourg 3-2. Maghnes Akliouche and Folarin Balogun gave Monaco a two-goal lead before Strasbourg's Dilane Bakwa and Joaquin Panichelli equalised within three minutes in the second half.

Former Liverpool player Takumi Minamino scored with a diving header from Akliouche's cross in the 96th minute to restore Monaco's lead. Strasbourg ended with ten players after Rabby Nzingoula was sent off in stoppage time, halting their perfect start.

Both Monaco and Strasbourg have six points heading into the international break. Rennes has four points following their 1-1 draw with Angers on Sunday. Paris FC secured their first top-flight win of the season, defeating Metz 3-2 at home with Moses Simon scoring the decisive goal.

Lyon Overcomes Pre-season Challenges

Lyon had a turbulent pre-season, facing demotion from Ligue 1 and exclusion from the Europa League due to financial issues. However, they successfully appealed these decisions and have now won their first three Ligue 1 games for the first time since the 1981-82 season.

In contrast, Marseille has lost two of their opening three matches for the first time since the 2015-16 season. Lyon bid farewell to forward Georges Mikautadze ahead of his expected move to Villarreal on Monday. Mikautadze contributed significantly last season with 17 goal involvements in Ligue 1.