MARSEILLE: Marseille continued to stutter on Friday as they could only draw 1-1 at home against Ligue 1 tailenders Angers. After opening their first season under Roberto De Zerbi with four wins and a draw in the league, Marseille lost at Strasbourg last week and dropped points to winless Anger on Friday in a glum Velodrome Stadium where two stands were closed by order of the league. “I accepted the compliments after the good results, now we have to accept the criticism,” said De Zerbi after the game.

Marseille even briefly played with a man advantage after Lilian Raolisoa was sent off in the 26th minute. But Neal Maupay picked up two yellow cards in the next three minutes and Marseille were down to ten men by the half hour. Former UEFA president and France captain Michel Platini recently suggested that to make modern football more attractive, games should be 10-a-side. Friday’s hour-long experiment provided little evidence to support his case.

Marseille struggled to create clear-cut chances while Angers stalled for time. Englishmen Jonathan Rowe finally broke through for Marseille after 51 minutes. But again the momentum lasted barely three minutes as Farid El Melali converted a 54th minute free kick. “We have to be aware that we’re trying to build a great Marseille and that it doesn’t happen all of a sudden,” said De Zerbi. “You have to go through games like Strasbourg and tonight.” He said Mason Greenwood, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Luis Henrique did not “play their best games.” “But we could have won and should have won,” said the Italian. — AFP