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Marseille fell to their second straight defeat of the new season as Seydou Keita and Vitorino Hilton gave Lens a 2-0 home win.
The Mediterranean side now sit bottom of the table ahead of the rest of the evening's action, having looked mostly ineffective without suspended striker Mamadou Niang and influential playmaker Franck Ribéry, who missed out through illness.
They had the better of the opening exchanges in front of a vibrant crowd, though, and new signing Andres Mendoza drew a save from Charles Itandje inside three minutes. The hosts then got in on the action, with Yohan Demont firing wide from 30 metres out and Ivory Coast international Aruna Dindane threatening to pull the trigger in the box before Habib Beye intervened.
Jérôme Leroy and Jussie also tried their luck as Les Sang et Or pushed forward, but, with defender Taye Taiwo testing Itandje again at the other end, either side could have opened the scoring.
That honour fell to Malian midfielder Keita on 38 minutes, after Dindane was brought down by goalkeeper Cédric Carrasso in the area. Leroy stepped up to take the penalty, and although Carrasso almost redeemed himself with an excellent parry, Keita was first to the ball to put Lens in front.
Marseille thought they deserved a penalty of their own when Demont seemed to handle in the box, but referee Sars waved away their pleas and they went in behind at the break.
Jean Fernandez shuffled his pack with Salomon Olembé coming on for Sergio Koke, and Mendoza pushing up alongside Luyindula in attack, and the early signs in the second half were encouraging.
Ten minutes after the restart, Sabri Lamouchi released Mendoza on the left and the Peruvian international fed the ball into Luyindula on the edge of the area. The troubled striker then cleverly set up Wilson Oruma on the right, only for the ex-Sochaux star to crack his shot well wide.
Luyindula himself came close to equalising before being tackled in extremis, but Lens proved they were still a menace when Hilton headed just over from a corner. The Brazilian defender did not have to wait long for another chance, though, and with barely over an hour gone, he connected with Jussie's free-kick to head in his team's second.
Hilton was just as impressive at the back, and as the clock ticked down Marseille began to fade as an attacking force. Benoît Assou-Ekoto struck a post as Lens comfortably saw out the rest of the match, and the win gives Francis Gillot's side their first three points of the campaign.
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