Valere Germain scored four minutes before half time to give Monaco a 1-0 lead over Marseille at the break in their Ligue 1 encounter this evening.

The hosts almost made a perfect start to the match when Emmanuel Riviere beat the offside trap in the third minute, only to be denied by a fine stop from Steve Mandanda.

Mandanda was called into action again in the 16th minute, this time denying Andrea Raggi after the Italian full-back had worked space to shoot on the edge of the box and bent an effort towards the far corner.

Germain was the next to threaten for Monaco after capitalising on a defensive mix-up, but he couldn't steer his effort on target.

The Frenchman was more accurate the next chance he got, however, giving the hosts the lead just four minutes before half time when he escaped the attention of Souleymane Diawara before slotting the ball past Mandanda.