Marseille were unable to find a way past ten-man Saint-Etienne on Sunday, drawing 0-0 as the continue to search for their first victory this season.

Both sides had their chances during the match, with Loic Remy hitting the woodwork for the home side and Bakary Sako doing the same for Saint-Etienne. Jean-Pascal Mignot was then given his marching orders five minutes from time, but Marseille were unable to capitalise on the advantage and had to settle for their third successive draw.

After two wins, the draw was the first time Saint-Etienne dropped points this season and they now sit two points behind early leaders Montpellier.

Marseille were the first to threaten after 14 minutes when a counter-attack saw Nicolas N'Koulou release Remy, who in turn flicked on to Lucho Gonzalez, but his low drive was well held by goalkeeper Stephane Ruffier.

Alou Diarra then headed over the bar moments later as the home side pushed for the opening goal, and they almost got it in the 18th minute when Lucho freed up Remy for a right-footed shot which came back off the post.

Marseille continued to dominate as the half wore on and Andre Ayew also came within a whisker of getting on the scoresheet with a volley from just inside the area which flew inches past the left post.

Saint-Etienne looked a stronger side after the interval and could have snatched the lead after 56 minutes when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang teed up Sako for a powerful shot which smashed the crossbar and bounced down just in front of the goal-line.

Marseille were now the team under pressure and their defence was almost exposed in the 73rd minute by a quick free-kick. The ball ended at the feet of Sako, who managed to sneak a back-heeled shot past out-rushing goalkeeper Steve Mandanda, only for N'Koulou to clear off the line.

It was a big let-off for Marseille, and they responded with an excellent header from Pierre-Andre Gignac which had to be tipped over the bar by Ruffier. The hosts then played out the last five minutes with a man advantage after Mignot was shown a second yellow card for a rough challenge on Diarra.

However, they were unable to find the breakthrough, much to the irritation of the fans at the Stade Velodrome.