Marseille make the most of the situation

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In strange conditions, a stadium without its fans, and with a team marking the return of its senior players, who are still short of match practice, Les Parisiens fell to defeat by the smallest of margins on Sunday evening.

A Classique to conclude Week 3 of Ligue 1: an exciting match was on the cards as Paris Saint-Germain took on Olympique de Marseille.
Thomas Tuchel opted for a 4-3-3, with the return of Sergio Rico, Angel Di Maria, Neymar Jr, and a first start for the club's new recruit, Alessandro Florenzi. It was pure product of the club's academy, Presnel Kimpembe, who was handed the captain's armband. 

And from the very get go the tone was set: the match was going to be frenetic. It was the home side that started the brighter, breaking into the Marseille box on several occasions, with Marco Verratti calling Mandanda into action (2').

In a first half that saw foul after foul, Les Parisiens succeeded in pressing high up the pitch and got the ball down to play, as they looked to build the pressure on the visitors, with a couple of chances falling to a lively Neymar Jr (8', 18', 24')... 

Alessandro Florenzi showed his quality, with several beautiful crosses into the forwards, and also his determination on his right wing as he came up against Dimitri Payet and Jordan Amavi.

Les Marseillais struggled to break past the halfway line, but a set piece was enough to give the visitors the lead, against the run of play. At the back post, Florian Thauvin got onto the end of a Dimitri Payet free-kick to turn it home (0-1, 31'). Despite the set-back, Les Parisiens continued to push, with palpable intensity in the opposition's half, and the home side snuffed out any danger from any possible Marseille attack, but the 22 players headed back into the dressing room with just a goal separating them.

Les Parisiens continued to push at the start of the second half. After an excellent team move, Les Franciliens created a clear-cut chance, Neymar Jr doing well on the left before playing into Alessandro Florenzi, who found Pablo Sarabia, but Mandanda was equal to it (56'). The Brazilian tried his luck again two minutes later, but the Marseille stopper was there once again to deny (58'), before Angel Di Maria found the back of the net from a move that was eventually flagged offside (61'). 
Marseille fought back through Dario Benedetto, but he too was flagged offside (64').

Far from giving up, Thomas Tuchel's side pushed forward. And after another smart team move, Neymar Jr saw his effort miss the target (68'), before Juan Bernat's header also couldn't find the target (75').

Determined and united, Les Parisiens gave their all in order to break down the opposition's defence, throwing on all of their attacking strength for the battle.

Lots of chances - 14 shots for the home side - weren't enough to trouble Villas Boas' side. And a scrappy last few minutes wouldn't change that, with five players sent off. After 11 years dominating Les Classiques, Les Parisiens fell to defeat by the smallest of margins (0-1).