METZ, France (AP) — Marseille was dealt more heartbreak this week when it squandered the lead and drew with 10-man Metz 2-2 in the French league on Friday, three days after getting knocked out from a European competition.
English teenager Emran Soglo opened the scoring by squeezing a low strike past Metz goalkeeper Alexandre Oukidja in the 14th minute.
Promoted Metz managed to rally and take the lead even though it was down to 10 men in the 59th when Aboubacar Lo made a poor tackle on Iliman Ndiaye.
Cheikh Sabaly equalized with a long-range shot that took a big deflection off Valentin Rongier in the 65th.
Metz striker Georges Mikautadze made it 2-1 off a corner in the 71st, chesting down a second ball before firing past goalkeeper Pau Lopez.
Portuguese striker Vitinha came off the bench to salvage a point for Marseille with an angled strike in the 82nd.
“For me, the result is not fair, but we must accept it,” Marseille coach Marcelino said. “We had many shots during the game, we need to be more clinical.”
Marseille kicked off its league campaign with a win over Reims last weekend. But it lost to Panathinaikos 5-3 in a penalty shootout after a 2-2 draw on aggregate in the third qualifying round of the Champions League on Tuesday.
Soglo, who put Marseille ahead, was making his French league debut and his first appearance for Marseille. He played for the Chelsea and West Ham youth teams before joining the Marseille academy last year.
Marseille has been recruiting in England this summer, signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Chelsea, Ismaila Sarr from Watford, and Iliman Ndiaye from Sheffield United. They all started against Metz.
Aubameyang provided the assist for Soglo and had a goal disallowed for a marginal offside on the stroke of halftime.
Sarr proved a livewire on the right wing but was wasteful. He controlled a cross from Soglo in the second minute only to hit the post. Five minutes later, Sarr curled a shot that Oukidja turned around the post. Clean through on goal, Sarr missed the target in the 38th.
Metz earned its first point of the season after starting its campaign losing to Rennes 5-1.
On Saturday, defending champion Paris Saint-Germain visits Toulouse while Lyon hosts Montpellier.
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