Accrington 2-1 Marseille: League One side beat French giants in pre-season friendly
Accrington Stanley, who are they? A team who beat French giants Marseille 2-1 in a pre-season friendly at a rugby stadium, that’s who.
The rugby posts were removed at the AJ Bell Stadium, home of union’s Sale Sharks and league’s Salford Red Devils, for Thursday’s encounter which saw the League One side beat the nine-time French champions.
Stanley – stars of a famous milk advert which asked who they were back in the day when they had dropped out of the Football League – took the lead inside 28 minutes in front of the 1,266 in attendance through Sean McConville while Offrande Zanzala doubled their lead from the spot on 37 minutes.
Former Newcastle forward and 2018 World Cup winner Florian Thauvin found the net for Marseille late on but Stanley held on for a memorable win.
As well as Thauvin, Marseille fielded a formidable side which included former West Ham midfielder Dimitri Payet, but they could not beat John Coleman’s resilient Stanley.
