Marseille draw with Lyon held up by crowd trouble aimed at Valbuena

Ten-man Marseille recovered from a nervous start to salvage a 1-1 draw against Lyon in an incident-packed Ligue 1 match interrupted by crowd trouble at the Stade Vélodrome.

The game was held up for 23 minutes in the second half after fans threw bottles, some of them aimed at the former OM favourite Mathieu Valbuena.

Karim Rekik’s second-half header cancelled out Alexandre Lacazette’s opener although Marseille were reduced to 10 men before the break when Romain Alessandrini was sent off for a violent tackle on Valbuena, who had been too hot to handle.

After eight seasons at OM, helping them to the French title in 2010, Valbuena joined Dynamo Moscow in 2014 and made his Ligue 1 comeback with Lyon this season. “You’re a traitor,” read a banner in the stands.

In the second half Valbuena, taking a corner, required the assistance of six stadium stewards as fans threw bottles at him.The players were then sent to the dressing room in the 62nd minute as trouble continued.

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

Valbuena was heavily targeted by the Marseille players but he shone anyway, setting up Lacazette with a fine through-ball before the striker was brought down by Steve Mandanda. Lacazette converted the resulting penalty in the 25th minute.

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