Marseille 0 - 1 AJ Auxerre

Marseille 0-1 Auxerre

Updated: December 11, 2004, 6:51 PM UK

MARSEILLE, December 11 (Ligue 1) - Philippe Troussier's first home outing as coach of Marseille ended in defeat on Saturday as fellow high-flyers Auxerre picked up their eighth win of the season to put pressure on the leading teams.

Troussier was victorious in his debut match against Caen last weekend but was unable to repeat the magic at the Stade Velodrome as Benjamin Mwaruwari's 62nd-minute strike settled the game in favour of the visitors.

Marseille came into the match in third spot following the 3-2 win over Caen and they had the better of the early chances against fifth-placed Auxerre.

The first opportunity fell to Demetrius Ferreira after 24 minutes but his well-struck effort went wide of the upright.

Benoit Pedretti went even closer five minutes later, the French international shaving the woodwork with a free-kick.

Auxerre responded with a brilliant run by Bonaventure Kalou but, after dribbling his way past the final defender Frederic Dehu, he was denied a remarkable goal by a stunning reflex save from Marseille goalkeeper Jeremy Gavanon.

The second half started with Marseille back on the attack and six minutes in Habib Beye headed a good chance over the bar following a cross from Ferreira.

That proved to be a costly miss for the home side as just 11 minutes later, Mwaruwari, nicknamed "Benjani'', netted Auxerre's winner.

Receiving the ball from Benoit Cheyrou's free-kick, Benjani unleashed a thunderous drive that gave Gavanon no chance to save.

The home side tried their best to reply and Cheyrou's brother, Bruno, was denied by Auxerre goalkeeper Fabien Cool following a free-kick with 14 minutes remaining.

Auxerre almost snatched a second goal late on when Benoit Cheyrou narrowly missed after attempting an audacious lob from 40 yards out but Guy Roux's side will be happy to settle for the one-goal victory having failed to win any of their previous three Ligue 1 matches.