Neymar makes racism accusation; mass brawl mars tie

TIL Desk Sports/ Olympique Marseille earned a smash-and-grab 1-0 win at Ligue 1 champions Paris St Germain after forward Florian Thauvin struck in the 31st minute of a pulsating though ill-tempered match at the Parc des Princes on Sunday.

Littered with fouls throughout, the clash boiled over in the last minute of stoppage time with referee Jerome Brisard sending off five players after a full scale brawl broke out on the pitch. Paris Saint Germain’s Neymar, Laywin Kurzawa and Leandro Paredes as well as Marseille’s duo of Dario Benedetto and Jordan Amavi were given their marching orders after rival players threw punches and kicks at each other.

But it did not bother Marseille manager Andre Villas-Boas after the 1993 European Cup winners celebrated their first league win against PSG since November 2011. “A tough and important win as well as a historic one,” Villas-Boas told reporters after his side condemned last season’s Champions League runners-up to a second successive defeat following a 1-0 opening day setback at Lens.