Another Painful Home Defeat for Marseille as Auxerre Wins 3-1 in French League

Auxerre's Malian forward #17 Lassine Sinayoko (L) fights for the ball with Marseille's Argentinian defender #05 Leonardo Balerdi during the French L1 football match between Olympique de Marseille (OM) and AJ Auxerre at Stade Velodrome in Marseille, southern France on November 8, 2024. (Photo by Christophe SIMON / AFP)

Marseille slumped to its second successive French league loss at home when Auxerre grabbed a 3-1 win at the Stade Vélodrome on Friday.
Roberto de Zerbi’s team was whistled and jeered by the frustrated home fans, with some Auxerre players even attempting to console the likes of Marseille midfielder Adrien Rabiot. There was no such sympathy from the supporters, who booed and whistled their team.
Marseille was bidding to keep some pressure on Paris Saint-Germain after its 3-0 loss to the club in its last game at home.
But it was given a shock in the 10th minute on Friday when Lassine Sinayoko capitalized on a mistake from defender Lilian Brassier to score. It was the Malian forward’s second goal in as many games for Auxerre.
It got worse before the break, when Gaëtan Perrin and Hamed Junior Traoré scored two goals in three minutes for the visitors, The Associated Press reported.
Marseille tried responding in the second half, but Auxerre went closer to scoring at the other end.
Then Marseille was given a lifeline when Clement Akpa was penalized for handball. Mason Greenwood duly scored the penalty in the 65th.
But that was as good as it got for de Zerbi’s team with Auxerre’s defense on top despite missing some first-choice players through injury.