Lyon-Marseille clash marred by crowd trouble

After a poor start, 10-man Marseille salvaged a 1-1 draw against Lyon on Sunday, in a game that was suspended for 23 minutes when the crowd threw projectiles onto the pitch.

Police intervene during the Ligue 1 match between Marseille and Lyon at the Velodrome Stadium Reuters/Philippe Laurenson

Fans at the Stade Vélodrome launched flares and bottles that appeared to be mostly aimed at Mathieu Valbuena, a former OM favourite who recently signed for Lyon from Dynamo Moscow.

Supporters had been upset when Valbuena made the move to Russia after eight years with Marseille, during which he helped them to the French title in 2010.

At Sunday's game, Marseille were reduced to 10 men when Romain Alessandrini was sent off for a violent tackle on Valbuena.

However, a second-half header by Karim Rekik cancelled out an early goal by Alexandre Lacazette.

As the crowd became more agitated, Valbuena had to be sheilded from the objects by security guards and ball boys when taking corners.

Then, when projectiles were thrown at Lyon's goalkeeper, the referee sent the players to the dressing room.

“The club will assume its responsibilities regarding the two or three beer bottles that were thrown on to the field,” OM president Vincent Labrune told French television after the game.