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Wilson Oruma scored on his return to Sochaux on Sunday to hand Marseille their first win of the season at the Stade Bonal.
Rock bottom of Ligue 1 with two points from their first five matches, Jean Fernandez’s team desperately needed to secure their first win against lowly Sochaux - and that's exactly what they did, albeit with an unconvincing performance.
Sochaux, meanwhile, continue to pay a heavy price for letting some of their star players leave in the summer. In Week 1, former Doubiste Santos scored on his return to Sochaux to hand Toulouse a 1-0 win, and this weekend it was the turn of Oruma, another former Bonal favourite.
The Nigerian international struck the killer blow midway through the second half, latching onto a poor clearance out of the Sochaux defence and rifling a low shot past Teddy Richert.
Up until that moment it looked as though nothing would separate these two struggling teams. With both sides lacking in confidence, the first shot did not emerge until the 21st minute as Mourad Meghni, on his Sochaux debut, set up Jaouad Zairi who curled a shot just wide of the top corner.
Meghni, the France Under-21 international who has returned to France after a spell at Bologna, was the outstanding performer in the first half.
He created another opening on the half hour, delivering a sweet centre which was headed wastefully over the top by Moumouni Dagano.
Richert was called into action for the first time shortly before the interval, reacting well to parry a snap-shot from Franck Ribéry. It was a rare moment of inspiration from Marseille, who seemed to be lacking in ideas. Visiting strikers Mamadou Niang and Christian Gimenez were starved of service, while Portuguese midfielder Delfim struggled with the pace of the game.
But they benefitted from the sort of break that had been deserting them up until now this season when Oruma broke the deadlock.
The strike gave Marseille a much-needed injection of confidence, and moments later Oruma was testing Richert again with a superb run and shot.
Sochaux mounted a late charge but Cédric Carrasso was equal to Mohamed Kader’s shot, then Jérémy Menez blasted fractionally over the top when well placed. The win takes Marseille 16th, while Sochaux, who also have five points, are one place above them.
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