Marseille's euro dreams falter in Lorient setback

Marseille's midfielder Samir Nasri(L) fights for the ball with Lorient's defender Michael Ciani during their French L1 football match at the Moustoir Stadium in Lorient. Former European champions Marseille missed the chance to cement their European credentials with a 2-1 defeat at Lorient on Saturday.

Former European champions Marseille missed the chance to cement their European credentials with a 2-1 defeat at Lorient on Saturday.

Fielding an experimental backline, Marseille lacked the experience to dominate and fell to a pair of goals from Rafik Saifi and Ulrich Le Pen.

With no other matches being played on Saturday, victory would have propelled the eighth-placed Mediterranean outfit into a Champions League qualifying place but instead Marseille once again flattered to deceive.

With only eight games left to play, Albert Emon's men are in danger of being swallowed by the pack chasing the precious few European places on offer.

"There will come a time when you have to be realistic, but for the moment we can still think about European qualification," said Emon.

"If your spirit is only average you can't hope to achieve very much. We are a team that has some good moments but also some very bad ones."

Marseille's midfielder Mathieu Valbuena(L) challenges Jeremy Morel during their French L1 football match at the Moustoir Stadium in Lorient. Former European champions Marseille missed the chance to cement their European credentials with a 2-1 defeat at Lorient on Saturday.

They came up against a side that had not scored in their previous six games, losing three in a row followed by three 0-0 draws in succession.

But Lorient found their scoring touch after an hour as the visitors' central pairing of Bostjan Cesar and Renato Civelli failed to track the run of Saifi, who headed home a cross from Andre-Pierre Gignac.

By that time Marseille should have had the lead but the much-maligned Djibril Cisse, who was roundly jeered by the Parisian crowd during France's midweek 1-0 friendly victory over Austria, was denied by Lorient goalkeeper Remy Riou on 19 minutes.

Cisse ran clear of the backline and only had to beat the goalkeeper but Riou, who had charged out of his area, headed away Cisse's attempted lob.

Cisse had another chance on 72 minutes but was again thwarted by Riou before Le Pen doubled the hosts' advantage three minutes later.

Marseille's forward Djibril Cisse reacts during their French L1 football match against Lorient at the Moustoir Stadium in Lorient. Former European champions Marseille missed the chance to cement their European credentials with a 2-1 defeat at Lorient on Saturday.

Le Pen headed home a Gignac corner after slack marking once again cost Marseille.

Cisse did gain some measure of satisfaction 10 minutes from time as he fired home a penalty to reduce the arrears after substitute Toifilou Maoulida was felled in the box.

Despite their listless showing, Marseille could yet have stolen a point but the impressive Riou denied Maoulida and Mikael Pagis in the dying moments.

All of which hastens the necessity for Emon to welcome back injured pair Franck Ribery and Julien Rodriguez into the first team picture ahead of their next match, against Lille.