Marseille beat Lyon in game rearranged after bus attack

By AFP
December 08, 2023

PARIS: Marseille eased to a 3-0 win over beleaguered Lyon on Wednesday in a Ligue 1 game that was rescheduled from October after the away team bus was stoned on its approach to the Velodrome.

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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang set up Vitinha and Panama international Amir Murillo for first-half goals before the Gabonese striker added his team´s third on 55 minutes to seal a convincing victory.

Lyon appealed unsuccessfully last month to play the game on neutral ground and league officials took no action against Marseille as a club because the incidents did not occur inside the stadium.

Marseille's Portuguese forward Vitinha (R) and Lyon's French defender Sael Kumbedi (L) fight for the ball during the French L1 football match between Olympique Marseille (OM) and Olympique Lyonnais (Lyon) at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille, southern France on December 6, 2023. — AFP

No Lyon fans were allowed to attend the rearranged clash following a resurgence of football-related violence in France, the latest incident resulting in the death of a Nantes supporter at the weekend.

The original fixture on October 29 was called off just as it was supposed to kick off as then-Lyon coach Fabio Grosso was left with cuts to the face that required stitches after being hit by broken glass.

Lyon last week dismissed former World Cup winner Grosso after the Italian oversaw just one win in seven games, replacing him with the club´s academy director Pierre Sage.

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