Paris (AFP)

The end of a long wait for Marseille, the start of the puzzle for Paris SG: OM, victorious on Sunday (1-0), won for the first time in nine years the "Clasico" of Ligue 1 at his rival, in bad shape despite Neymar.

He missed at this summit the warm atmosphere of the Parc des princes, Kylian Mbappé, preparation time for PSG, a little animation and rhythm on the field, but he will keep a special place in Marseille memories.

Unable to win in their last 20 confrontations, OM put an end to a long series of frustrations and defeats, which had begun to lessen the spice of these meetings, as the gap seemed too great between the two clubs .

And yet, thanks to a goal from Florian Thauvin (31st) and several decisive stops by Steve Mandanda, the team coached by André Villas-Boas broke the curse, also taking advantage of an adequate timing to play PSG, not yet ready for this kind of meeting.

Despite the returns as holders of Neymar and Angel di Maria, tested positive for Covid-19 in early September, the training of the capital is still far from its best level, the fault of a preparation truncated by its course in the Champions League and the pandemic of coronavirus.

Without her scorers Mbappé and Icardi, nor her captain Marquinhos, she went on a second consecutive match without scoring, and especially a second consecutive setback after Lens (1-0) Thursday - her worst start in the Championship under the Qatari era, started in 2011.

- Decisive Mandanda -

He will have to wait until Metz on Wednesday to finally start his season, in a very unexpected duel of teams without a single point.

Clearly, this start of the 2020-21 fiscal year is confusing at all levels.

The first period of the "Clasico" also confirmed it: Marseille scored on its only opportunity, during a period of clear domination in Paris.

Thauvin took advantage of the elastic marking of the defense to transform, alone at the far post, Dimitri Payet's free kick.

It has been five years since OM had not led to the Parc des Princes.

That year, the advantage lasted ten minutes, until a brace from Zlatan Ibrahimovic brought him back to earth.

This time, this goal uninhibited the Marseillais, comforting them in their strategy: defend low and wait for the cons or a set piece, to be decisive.

The flip side of this plan is that the meeting was chopped by many faults, and some clashes between players.

A final scrum in added time was sanctioned by five expulsions, three for PSG (Neymar, Paredes, Kurzawa) and two for OM (Benedetto, Amavi).

The advantage is that it deprived the Parisians of rhythm, especially in the second half when their physical deficiencies of the moment were felt.

If Dario Benedetto scored a second goal (62nd) canceled for a very limited offside, Mandanda made sure in the cages to respect the instructions of "AVB".

- Neymar too fair -

The goalkeeper, after two agitated weeks by his hasty departure from the rally of the France team due to a positive Covid-19 test and the ensuing imbroglio with his club, showed that at 35 years old, he was still "Il Fenomeno", and a guarantee of strength for the Champions League which will return to the Vélodrome in October.

His stops against Marco Verratti (2nd) and Di Maria (57th) were decisive.

He also benefited from the clumsiness of Neymar (70th) to keep his cage intact, and sign OM's second "clean sheet" against PSG in nine years.

For Thomas Tuchel, the reasons for satisfaction are less.

His risk of starting Neymar and Di Maria did not pay off, because neither of them has the characteristics of an N.9, where they tried in vain, in the absence of Icardi and Mbappé.

The Brazilian, for his first with his equipment supplier Puma, showed that there is always genius in his crampons.

But he was not decisive and was sent off, to extend his tormented history with the "Clasico" marked by a red card in 2017 and an injury in 2018.

The first half hour also highlighted the qualities of Italian rookie Alessandro Florenzi, whose crosses were the source of the two best chances of this period (2nd, 18th).

For the rest, the results are mixed.

Paris still has work ahead of it.

© 2020 AFP