Paris: Lassana Diarra played 90 minutes for Marseille in their 2-0 win at Saint-Etienne that rounded off an emotional weekend in France marked by tributes to the victims of the Paris terror attacks.

Diarra, whose cousin was fatally wounded in the capital on November 13, only returned to training on Saturday having spent time with his family after being on international duty for France.

However, he was on the field before the game at the Stade Goeffroy-Guichard as a crowd of almost 35,000 joined in a version of ‘La Marseillaise’ and a minute’s silence was held in memory of the 130 people killed in the attacks, just as had been the case throughout Ligue 1 over the weekend.

Thierry Braillard, France’s Secretary of State for Sport, was in attendance and he saw goals from Michy Batshuayi and Georges-Kevin Nkoudou hand Olympique Marseille a welcome victory that lifted them up to 12th place.

Diarra almost gave Marseille the lead, his fine strike from 20 yards being tipped onto the woodwork by Stephane Ruffier in the home goal.

Kevin Monnet-Paquet then responded by hitting the woodwork at the other end but it was Marseille who opened the scoring four minutes before the interval.

Nkoudou tried to divert a Brice Dja Djedje cross towards goal but his wayward attempt became an assist for Batshuayi.

It was a ninth league goal of the season for Batshuayi, who was part of the Belgium squad when their friendly international with Spain in Brussels was postponed in midweek due to terrorism fears.

The visitors doubled their lead six minutes after the restart as Nkoudou, who lost a friend in the siege on the Bataclan concert venue in Paris, saw his shot find the net via a deflection off Loic Perrin.

Deprived of several key players, Saint-Etienne have now suffered three defeats in four league games and are seventh in the table.

Caen missed the chance to go second when they drew 0-0 at home to Angers, although the point was a good one in the circumstances after they had Alaeddine Yahia sent off in the first half.

The result leaves the Normandy club third behind Lyon on goal difference and 13 points behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain, who remain unbeaten after a 2-1 win at Lorient on Saturday.

Lyon lost 3-0 on Friday at Nice, who are fourth, while Angers are fifth but have gone five games without a win.

Elsewhere on Sunday, ‘La Marseillaise’ rang out in Bastia ahead of the Corsican derby won 2-1 by Gazelec Ajaccio.

Despite threats by Corsican nationalists to boo the French national anthem, it was played at the Stade Armand-Cesari before the Corsican chant ‘Diu vi salvi Regina’ was sung and 130 white balloons were released.

“The silence as the players walked out gave me the chills,” said Gazelec coach Thierry Laurey.

In a match which had been postponed from Saturday because of strong winds on the Mediterranean island, Brandao opened the scoring for the hosts early on but Cameroon international striker Jacques Zoua equalised from the penalty spot and Khalid Boutaib struck a second-half winner.

It was a fourth win in a row for Gazelec who move out of the relegation zone and leave Bastia in the bottom three.

There was drama in Brittany with Bordeaux goalkeeper Cedric Carrasso saving a last-gasp penalty in a 2-2 draw at Rennes.

Sports Minister Patrick Kanner watched on from the stands as Rennes led twice thanks to goals by 18-year-old Ousmane Dembele, who was making his first Ligue 1 start, and Polish winger Kamil Grosicki.

Each time Bordeaux hit back through Enzo Crivelli and then Diego Contento, but the hosts had a chance to win the game deep into stoppage time when Clement Chantome was penalised for handball in the box.

However, Giovanni Sio saw his kick saved and Rennes have now failed to score any of their last six penalties.