Olympique Marseille made an embarrassing start to the defense of its Ligue 1 title with a shock 2-1 home defeat by promoted Caen Saturday. A header by midfielder Youssef El-Arabi five minutes from time silenced the Velodrome stadium and gave the visitors from Normandy a stunning victory. Marseille, which secured its first league crown since 1992 last May, looked nervous throughout the match but seemed to have escaped with a draw after a late equalizer from substitute forward Mamadou Samassa until El-Arabi struck. Caen deservedly opened the scoring when Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda failed to parry a seemingly harmless angled effort from midfielder Nicolas Seube early in the second half. Marseille coach Didier Deschamps was not pleased and made it clear the club, very quiet so far on the transfer market, needed to purchase new players. “Caen were very determined and deserved to win but we showed many weaknesses,” Deschamps told reporters. “We made errors and lacked determination,” he added. “We were the favorites and should have won that match.” Last season's runners-up Olympique Lyon also struggled, managing only a 0-0 home draw with Monaco, although they did step up a gear after the break and created several chances. Superb volleys from Paris St. Germain's Benin midfielder Stephane Sessegnon and newcomer Nene helped secure a 3-1 home win over St. Etienne that made the Parisians early leaders. Some PSG supporters threw flares and briefly clashed with police outside Parc des Princes before kickoff to protest against a plan by the club preventing supporters choosing their seats. No injuries or arrests were immediately reported. Toulouse might have to pay a heavy price for a 2-0 win over promoted Brest that put it second in the standings, with France striker Andre-Pierre Gignac leaving the pitch on a stretcher after twisting his ankle in the second half. In Saturday's other games, it was: Lens 1, Nancy 2; Nice 0, Valenciennes 0; Rennes 1, Lille 1; Sochaux 2, Arles-Avignon 1 and Toulouse 2, Brest 0. Real Madrid beats Galaxy Real Madrid overturned a two-goal deficit to defeat the Los Angeles Galaxy 3-2 in a pre-season friendly at the Pasadena Rose Bowl Saturday. The Galaxy went ahead five minutes before halftime when defender Todd Dunivant scored and doubled the advantage a minute into the second period after US international Landon Donovan slotted home a penalty kick. Gonzalo Higuain struck twice to level the score. Xavi Alonso of Real scored the winner. – Agenciesored the winner.
