Lowly Toulouse dent Marseille's push

Marseille's hopes of returning to the French Ligue 1 summit were hit by a 1-1 draw at lowly Toulouse on Saturday. In fact, the former European champions needed a late goal from Brazilian defender Lucas Mendes to snatch a point against the team that begun the day bottom of the league. Marseille had led the standings two weeks ago before being overhauled by Monaco, who won 2-1 at the Velodrome in their last match before the international break, and then by Paris Saint-Germain, who won 2-0 at Bordeaux on Friday night. But the team from the Cote d'Azur could have regained top spot with a victory. That looked a likely scenario throughout as Marseille created, and squandered, several opportunities, including a shocking miss by Dimitri Payet, who failed to find the net while goalkeeper Ali Ahamada lay prostrate and helpless on the ground. Ahamada then made an important save to deny France winger Mathieu Valbuena before Toulouse took a shock lead as Wissam Ben Yedder slotted home a pass from Dane, Martin Braithwaite. It would have been enough to secure a first win of the season but Mendes headed home a Valbuena free-kick three minutes from time to earn a point. Even so, Elie Baup's team will need to up their game considerably if they are to gain anything at home to Arsenal in the Champions League in midweek. On Friday, France midfielder Blaise Matuidi put PSG ahead from a precise Zlatan Ibrahimovic pass before Brazilian winger Lucas Moura sealed the victory for Laurent Blanc's team in the second half. It was a dominant performance from the champions against woeful opponents as PSG demonstrated they are starting to find their feet under Carlo Ancelotti's replacement. Previous leaders Monaco host Lorient on Sunday. Source: AFP