Marseille thrash Troyes after 'difficult' week

PARIS (Reuters) - Olympique de Marseille finally picked up their first win of the Ligue 1 season with a crushing 6-0 triumph over newcomers Troyes on Sunday.

Abdelaziz Barrada opened the scoring with a close-rangeheader on 19 minutes, but it was only after Lassana Diarra’s spectacular 47th-minute effort that Marseille truly rediscovered the swagger that has been missing so far this term.

Goals from Lucas Ocampos and Romain Alessandrini were sandwiched between a double by Belgian forward Michy Batshuayi, as Marseille appeared to put an end to their early-season troubles.

OM have endured a tumultuous start to the campaign, and headed into Sunday’s match at the Stade Velodrome on the back of defeats against Caen and Reims.

They were also hit by the departure of several key players as well as coach Marcelo Bielsa, who announced his resignation in the wake of their opening defeat and was replaced by Michel.

"It’s been difficult but that was no excuse," goalscorer Batshuayi told Canal Plus.

"We have shown tonight that we know how to lift ourselves. We felt liberated. This last week, it hasn’t been easy in the dressing room, so this was important for the team."

Elsewhere, a late Romain Hamouma goal ensured that St. Etienne registered a 1-0 victory over Lorient, while Lille against Bordeaux ended goalless at the Stade Pierre Mauroy.

Earlier in the weekend, Paris St. Germain beat Montpellier1-0 away, Olympique Lyonnais fell to a surprise 2-1 defeat at home to Stade Rennes while Monaco drew 1-1 at Toulouse.

(Writing by Ed Dove; Editing by Mark Meadows; [e-mail]; [phone]; Reuters Messaging:; [e-mail])