Paris (AFP)

Marseille, thanks to the double of Dimitri Payet, signed a stunning debut in Montpellier (3-2), Sunday during the first day of Ligue 1, like the reigning champion Lille who snatched the draw at the last second to Metz (3-3).

- Payet in shape -

Unbeaten during the preparation, Marseille maintained its good momentum with a success which bears the mark of the "grinta" desired by its Argentinian coach Jorge Sampaoli.

Despite two Montpellier goals in quick succession (31st, 35th), including a missile from Gaëtan Laborde, OM continued to play forward.

It paid off.

Dimitri Payet rewarded his good intentions with an express double (75th, 80th), on a free kick, then following a raid in the area.

Previously, rookie Cengiz Under (68th) had reduced the score.

But the match was disrupted by several throwing projectiles on the lawn which caused it to be interrupted for about ten minutes.

These incidents expose the club to sanctions from the League (LFP).

Gaetan Laborde, the Montpellier striker, against Marseille in Ligue 1 on August 8, 2021 at La Mosson in Montpellier Pascal GUYOT AFP

- Lille narrowly -

The champion relied on his king: the attacker Burak Yilmaz, nicknamed the "Kral" ("king" in Turkish), struck after additional time (90th + 6) to save a point of a match badly engaged.

Before the Turkish striker, Jonathan Ikoné (81st) handed over to Lille who were down 3-1 before the exclusion of Messin Boubakar Kouyaté (55th).

"We saw the Lille spirit, this ability to be tough, and at the same time some mistakes that cost us dearly on the defensive level and that we will have to rework next week", retains coach Jocelyn Gourvennec, who faces his predecessor Christophe Galtier, left for Nice this summer, Saturday in the North.

- Clermont, the beautiful story -

The volcano has awakened!

For his first in the elite, Clermont had a dream afternoon in Bordeaux.

The story is all the more beautiful as it is Mohamed Bayo, born and trained at the foot of the Puy de Dôme, who opened the scoring (82nd).

The Turkish Burak Yilmaz raises his fist after equalizing for Lille against Metz in Ligue 1 on August 8, 2021 at the Saint-Symphorien stadium in Metz JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN AFP

"These are moments of pride and happiness, when I see all these people coming from Clermont to support us. When we went to greet them at the end, I had tears in my eyes," admitted coach Pascal Gastien .

For his Bordeaux counterpart Vladimir Petkovic, it's the soup with the grimace.

This defeat brings Bordeaux back a few months, when it was fighting for maintenance at the end of last season.

"If it can make everyone aware that we have no margin, so much the better, because today Clermont has carried us around," said goalkeeper Benoît Costil.

- Galtier has work -

Champion of France with Lille last May, Christophe Galtier started a new challenge in Nice this summer.

But to make the Gym a contender for the podium, he still has work to do.

His team, without imagination, broke their teeth on Reims (0-0), despite the many encouragement of the technician, active in his technical area.

In Rennes, the performance of rookie Kamaldeen Sulemana, 19, gives reason to be optimistic, for the rest of the summer marked by play-offs in the Europa League Conference.

The young Ghanaian winger scored a superb goal which, however, was not enough to beat an eye-catching Lensois (1-1).

Draw also between Saint-Etienne and Lorient (1-1).

Strasbourg, for the first on the bench of Julien Stéphan, was surprised at home by Angers (2-0).

© 2021 AFP