Marseille missed the possibility to place some stress on Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain as they had been held to a 1-1 house draw by Montpellier on Friday. Igor Tudor’s second-placed aspect might have minimize the hole to PSG to 4 factors with a victory forward of the defending champions’ Sunday recreation towards Lyon. But as an alternative, Marseille dropped factors for the third time in 5 league outings and might be overtaken by third-placed Lens once they go to Rennes on Saturday. “Today we weren’t good enough to win,” admitted Tudor.

“The international break has cost us dearly. There were too many mentally and physically tired players.

“We solely had one coaching session collectively so I knew it could be powerful.”

Arnaud Nordin finished off a quick counter-attack to give mid-table Montpellier a 12th-minute lead after a brilliant burst from Wahbi Khazri.

Marseille levelled shortly before half-time as Matteo Guendouzi stroked home a penalty awarded for handball.

But OM created little and Khazri went close to a winner for Montpellier midway through the second period when he was denied by home goalkeeper Ruben Blanco.

Marseille dominated possession late on but could not find a goal which would have given them renewed hope of a first league title since 2010 after PSG’s shock home loss to Rennes before the international break.

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