Marseille in more turmoil after French Cup loss to amateurs

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This article was published 07/03/2021 (2037 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PARIS – Marseille’s chaotic season took its latest turn for the worse when it lost 2-1 at fourth-tier Canet-en-Roussillon in the French Cup on Sunday.

Marseille was eliminated from the Champions League in last place in its group. It has struggled in the French league with an interim coach after the previous one resigned and with a new coach having just arrived. On top of all that, angry fans are facing court cases after smashing up the club’s training complex.

Considering all these problems, Marseille needed a morale-boosting win against an amateur side to reach the last 16.

But it went badly wrong in Perpignan.

“I’m ashamed. There are no words to describe it, we played like (expletive),” Marseille defender Boubacar Kamara told broadcaster Eurosport moments after the final whistle. “It’s a fair result, there are no excuses. We are a professional team and we’ve made a huge mistake.”

A superb free kick from midfielder Jeremy Posteraro on his 30th birthday put the minnows ahead after 20 minutes.

He was about 25 metres out and to the right of the penalty area when he floated a magnificent shot into the top left corner, with No. 2 goalkeeper Yohann Pele rooted to the spot as the ball sailed in.

Marseille equalized before halftime when playmaker Dimitri Payet sent forward Valere Germain free down the right flank, and his cross was headed in by Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik for his third goal since joining on loan from Italian side Napoli.

That should have settled Marseille down, but Posteraro was not finished and his astute pass sent midfielder Yohan Bai clean through in the 71st.

He neatly clipped the ball over Pele for the winner against Marseille, a club which still proudly boasts of being the only French side to win the Champions League, back in 1993.

Those days are long gone.

Marseille fell apart in the last 10 minutes, with five simple passes going astray and with one corner from the left taken so badly it didn’t even enter into play.

It was a bad Sunday all around for the Payets, too, with younger brother Anthony Payet also on the losing side. He played up front for fourth-tier Romorantin against fellow amateurs Chateaubriant but failed to score in a 3-1 home defeat.

Elsewhere, Canada striker Jonathan David scored late on again as Lille won 3-1 at fourth-tier Corsican side GFC Ajaccio to advance to the last 16.

Four days ago, he netted in the last minute and then in injury time to help Lille stay on top of the French league.

This time his goal was less vital as Lille was already 2-0 up when he struck a low shot in the 84th. The home side grabbed a consolation goal shortly after.

First-tier Angers had little trouble beating amateur side Club Franciscain 5-0, with midfielder Ibrahim Amadou grabbing two goals.

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