PARIS, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Mario Balotelli's brace failed to gift Marseille full points as the southern club conceded two penalties afterwards in a 2-2 home draw with Angers in Ligue 1 on Saturday.
Balotelli had to wait for a while to celebrate his opener due to VAR review, and swept home another in less than 20 minutes. However, defensive errors cost Marseille a pair of spot kicks, which were both converted by Thomas Mangani.
Balotelli was left unmarked to chest down Lucas Ocampos' left-flank cross and fire a low shot past goalkeeper Ludovic Butelle as early as four minutes into the match.
The linesman raised the flag at first to signal an offside, but the goal was ratified by the match referee following VAR consultation.
Balotelli didn't wait long for his second goal of the match to arrive. He was teed up by Ocampos from the right wing to beat Butelle again in the 16th minute. It was the Italian striker's seventh goal in nine matches since his arrival at Marseille.
The hosts' defender Jordan Amavi was ruled to foul on Ismael Traore inside the box after the VAR check. Mangani didn't waste the chance of halving the deficit in the 36th minute.
Marseille players seemed to somewhat lose concentration in defense as the match went on. Angers substitute forward Cristian Lopez fell down inside the area following body contact with Duje Caleta-Car, and Mangani stepped up to convert the ensuing penalty for Angers in the 76th minute.
Marseille were reduced to 10 men two minutes later, when Bouna Sarr received his second yellow card for a tough chellenge on Romain Thomas.
Thomas got a chance of inflicting Marseille's pain himself, but his stoppage-time header bounce off the crossbar.
Marseille trail third-placed Lyon by eight points in their push for next season's Champions League spot. Lyon labored to a 1-0 road victory over Rennes on Friday.
Runaway leaders Paris Saint-Germain, with a seemingly unsurmountable 20-point margin, will travel to Toulouse on Sunday, while second-ranked Lille will visit Nantes.
