Marseille missed the chance to close the gap on their rivals for European qualification after slipping to a surprising 1-0 defeat to Nice at the Stade Velodrome tonight.
Valentin Eysseric scored the only goal of the game to earn the visitors just their second away win of the Ligue 1 season, which sees them climb six places to 11th in the table.
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It was Nice's only shot on target during a match in which Marseille were lightning quick out of the blocks.
Florian Thauvin and Andre Ayew both tested Nice goalkeeper David Ospina from outside of the box in the opening 10 minutes, while Alaixys Romao and Dimitri Payet threatened in an early goalmouth scramble.
Payet forced smart saves out of Ospina with two more long-range efforts before the interval, but Nice were doing well to limit Marseille to shots from distance, apart from a glaring ninth-minute miss from Thauvin.
Against the run of play, Eysseric fired the visitors into a 66th-minute lead by shooting beyond Steve Mandanda into the bottom corner from 25 yards for just his second goal of the season.
The goal did not change the pattern of play, though, as Marseille pressed forward for an equaliser, with Thauvin and Nicolas N'Koulou seeing headers saved by Ospina as Nice hung on for the win.
Marseille remain six points behind third-place Lille in the table.
Joe Fish
