Pre-Season Friendly Wrap: Marseille, Wolfsburg go down on penalties

Marseille have started their pre-season with a 1-1 draw against Swiss club Sion at the Valais Cup, while Saint-Etienne and Wolfsburg also drew.

In the opening game of the four-team tournament hosted by Sion, Saint-Etienne and Wolfsburg drew 1-1, while in the second match of a double-header at Stade de Tourbillon on Tuesday, the home side came from behind to claim a draw.

Marseille took the lead early when Lucas Mendes headed a corner back across Sion’s goal and one of the home side’s defenders accidently deflected the ball into the net.

But Sion fought back and secured a draw with two minutes remaining when Gaetan Karlen was played in behind Marseille’s defence and slotted the ball under the advancing goalkeeper.

The match went to penalties and it was Marseille’s lack of quality from the spot that cost them with misses from Achille Anani and Larry Azouni allowing Sion to secure a 4-3 victory in the shoot-out.

In the other match, Brazilian defender Naldo missed the crucial penalty for Wolfsburg in a shoot-out after they had come from a goal down against Saint-Etienne.

The French side had taken the lead through Romain Hamouma but Felipe Lopes struck a late equaliser for Wolfsburg to see the score locked at 1-1 after 90 minutes.

Naldo’s miss allowed Saint-Etienne to claim a 5-4 win in the shoot-out.