After three consecutive victories, the Olympique Marseille team suffered a heavy defeat in their visit to Auxerre with 0:3 in a match from the 23rd round of the French Ligue 1. The defeat was also predetermined by the expulsion of Derek Cornelius from the Marseille team after an hour of play, BTA reported.
Auxerre ended a series of 10 championship matches without a win (6 draws and 4 losses). The hosts opened the scoring through Gaetan Perrin, who scored his eighth goal of the season. He took advantage of an assist from Elisha Owusu and scored the ball under the crossbar in the 34th minute.
In the second half, Jubal made it 2:0 from a penalty for a foul by goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli on Lassin Sinayoko. He again made it 3:0 with a header in the last minute of added time.
For the Marseille team, Marlene missed the clearest opportunity, whose shot hit the post. However, the guests were furious with referee Jeremy Stina, with the club's sports advisor Fabrizio Ravanelli describing his management as "scandalous". "All of France saw that Stina was doing whatever he wanted on the pitch. It was scandalous", commented the former Juventus and Italy national team striker after the loss. Olympique has claims for Cornelius's expulsion, as well as for an uncalled penalty for a foul against Merlene. "This is real corruption!", said Marseille president Pablo Longoria.
The match was marred by clashes between fans of both teams, with 14 injured, two of whom were taken to hospital.
Olympique Marseille is thus still in second place in the standings, but is 10 points behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain, who play tonight against Olympique Lyon. The Auxerre team has climbed to tenth place in the standings with 28 points, 9 more than Saint-Etienne, who are first in the relegation zone.