Lens' nightmare week worsens with late Marseille defeat

PARIS, Nov 8 : RC Lens' nightmare week continued as they conceded a late goal to lose 2-1 at home to Olympique de Marseille in Ligue 1 on Sunday after a humiliating 9-1 thrashing in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Lens fell behind in the second minute when Amine Gouiri scored for Marseille, following a defensive error, but Florian Thauvin pulled them level in the 20th.

They appeared on course to earn a point until Keyliane Abdallah struck with eight minutes remaining, the 20-year-old following up after Gouiri's initial effort was blocked, to condemn the hosts to a third successive defeat in all competitions.

The defeat left Lens 11th in Ligue 1 and extended a miserable run that began when Olivier Giroud scored a late winner for Lille in last weekend's derby.

Wednesday's Champions League defeat to Como equalled the heaviest in the competition's history and marked another low for last season's Ligue 1 runners-up, whose fortunes have declined sharply since Pierre Sage left to take charge of Crystal Palace.

His replacement Dino Toppmoeller lasted only a matter of weeks and Yannick Cahuzac's position is now also under scrutiny.

Marseille, meanwhile, have climbed to fourth after overcoming their sluggish start to the campaign. They have won five successive Ligue 1 matches and also beat Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League on Thursday.

Earlier, Belgian defender Nathan Ngoy scored Lille's winner in a 2-1 victory at Rennes that lifted them to second.

Lille have 21 points, two behind leaders Paris St Germain and one ahead of third-placed Paris FC. Marseille are fourth on 18 points, above Olympique Lyonnais, who lost 2-0 at Brest on Sunday.

Nice continued their resurgence with a 2-0 win at Angers, their fourth victory in five league matches. Sofiane Diop opened the scoring in the second minute before Jonathan Clauss sealed the points in the 78th.

The result lifted Nice to sixth, while Monaco slipped to seventh after conceding a 90th-minute equaliser in a 1-1 draw at promoted Le Mans.

Monaco, beaten 3-1 by Paris FC last weekend, have gone five league matches without a win.

Substitute Erwan Colas equalised from a corner to earn Le Mans a valuable point and lift them to 15th, outside the relegation zone.

(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Toby Davis)