Nantes (AFP)

Marseille took their first point of the season Saturday in Nantes (0-0) for the second day of L1, but his performance, sometimes insipid, recalled the magnitude of the task for the new coach André Villas-Boas.

After their inaugural defeat against Reims (2-0), OM owes a great candle to its international goalkeeper Steve Mandanda, determining in the last quarter of an hour against the assaults of the Canaries.

Even if the Marseille rookie Dario Benedetto missed a penalty (31), the regrets will be on the side of the Nantais, not far from giving a victory to Christian Gourcuff for his debut on the bench. "My main satisfaction is the quality of the game." There was a change from Lille, we were more impactful, but we also put ourselves in danger, "said the new coach Canaris.

The entry into play of Samuel Moutoussamy (67) set fire to the Marseille area, and a superb curling shot by Abdoul-Kader Bamba forced Mandanda to relax for the first time (76). The action continued then a Girotto head and a tense shot by Abdoulaye Touré gave the Canaries back their enthusiasm.

Two minutes later, the young Imran Louza tried to lob Mandanda too advanced but without finding the frame (78). And just after, a double intervention of Mandanda, following a center of Bamba, then under the threat of Louza (80), avoided the defeat at OM.

Marseille has suffered a lot, and Villas-Boas will have to find solutions to win its first success in L1. But Florian Thauvin, injured, is expected to return to Nice on August 28, one of three matches of the third day postponed for three days at the request of the Ministry of the Interior, because of the G7 summit in Biarritz.

- Benedetto is missing -

The Canaries have, themselves, been encouraging in the animation, especially at the beginning and end of the game, but they could have lost everything at half an hour of play.

On a corner well shot by Payet (27), author of only two shots shot from OM in the first half, referee Benoît Bastien decided to whistle a penalty, after consulting the VAR.

Abdoulaye Touré's elbow, in a duel with Boubacar Kamara, had touched the ball. A harsh judgment for FC Nantes, but in accordance with the new rules. OM's new scorer, Dario Benedetto, was handed the task by Payet, but the Argentinian missed the opportunity to open his meter by shooting in the clouds (31).

"It's the first and the last time ...", regretted Andre Villas Boas, the coach of OM, following this decision of Payet, who had "worked a lot penaltys during the pre-season. I saw that Dario was going to shoot him, I was very angry, "said the Portuguese press conference.

At the foot of the Tribune Loire, stronghold of absolute fans, a huge banner had been deployed before the kickoff: "Rendez-vous the FCN". The Nantes fans discovered a very solid Mehdi Abeid, in midfield, and a young but well organized team by Christian Gourcuff, after a week of work only.

A sold-out for this first home meeting of the season, a new era may have begun. He just missed a small goal for the scenario to be perfect.

© 2019 AFP