AP, Paris :
Kostas Mitroglou scored a late equalizer on his club debut as Marseille salvaged a 3-3 draw at Strasbourg in the French league on Sunday.
The Greece striker fired home from close range after goalkeeper Bingourou Kamara spilled Jordan Amavi’s low shot in the 88th minute.
Marseille had won its three previous games and twice took the lead in an entertaining match that produced a season-high 39 shots.
Playmaker Dimitri Payet showed great dexterity to side-foot home a cross from Amavi in the fifth minute.
“I hadn’t scored yet this season, so this goal does me a lot of good,” said Payet, who joined from West Ham in January.
Strasbourg midfielder Jean Eudes Aholou equalized with a deflected strike from the edge of the penalty area in the 31st.
Payet then played Mitroglou clean through but his strike was saved by Kamara.
Marseille regained the lead three minutes after halftime when midfielder Morgan Sanson’s cross from the left – intended for Mitroglou – scuffed the head of center back Bakary Kone and sailed in.
Kone made amends in the 60th, rising above defender Adil Rami to head in a corner.
Mitroglou missed another opportunity in the 73rd. Just moments later, Rami tried to head away Dimitri Lienard’s powerful strike from 25 meters out but inadvertently deflected it past his goalkeeper Steve Mandanda.
Striker Martin Terrier missed a golden opportunity for 4-2 and Marseille punished the miss.
Although fourth-place Marseille has shown it can score, it will need to shore up its defense when it plays league leader Paris Saint-Germain next Sunday.
