Comedies of Errors from the Top Two in France

Both Olympique Marseille and Olympique Lyonnais got quite a beating on Sunday.

At 14:00 CET, at Valenciennes, Marseille seemed to have forgotten how to defend. The first goal, scored by Danic in the 16th minute, showed their inability to defend free kicks. And the second (in minute 34) and fourth (63), scored by Le Tallec, made their defensive marking look very poor. But it was Mandanda's amazing blunder (39) that truly made Marseille look like an amateur side.

So, one of the three remaining teams with a perfect record in their respective leagues falters. (And badly.) Barcelona and Bayern remain.

Seven hours after Marseille screwed up so badly, Lyon, formerly second in the standings, faltered, too. Their players were probably irritated by their own inability to break down Bordeaux's defenses as time was winding down.

In the 65th minute, Lyon defender Lovren deflected a ball past his own goalkeeper (while seeming quite worried about not handling the ball but not at all aware that not blocking the ball with all your might could spell trouble for those behind you).
In any case, Bordeaux went up 1-0, and they would not give that up.

On the contrary, they got a second goal, in the 82nd minute, when two Lyon defenders failed to intervene properly and Diabate was able to get in a header that sneaked past the goalkeeper and the bemused defenders.

So, this was a big matchday for Paris Saint-Germain, it seems.
Ancelotti's team now sits only three points behind Marseille, and one ahead of Lyon. They are in second, of course.

Highlights from Valenciennes - Marseille:


See highlights from Lyon - Bordeaux here.