Marseille capitalised on PSG's draw to move to the top of Ligue 1. Defending champions PSG were held to a 3-3 draw with Strasbourg in the capital on Friday night as they came from 3-1 down to rescue a point courtesy of second half strikes from Goncalo Ramos and Senny Mayulu. And L'OM will end the weekend top of the table after securing a fifth successive league win.
AFPMarseille's impressive start
Marseille have made an impressive start to the Ligue 1 season winning six of their opening eight matches, which includes a 1-0 home win over rivals PSG in Le Classique last month. And as Lyon fell to a 3-2 loss at Nice earlier on Saturday, Roberto De Zerbi's side will leapfrog the Parisian powerhouse and Strasbourg into first.
The south coast side started their welcome of Le Havre on Saturday night poorly as Yassine Keechta fired Didier Digard's side ahead midway through the first half. However, any hopes of an upset were dashed in the 34th minute as Gautier Lloris received his marching orders. The centre-back was adjudged to have handled the ball in the penalty area and was sent off to compound a disappointing passage of play for Lloris.
Marseille were awarded a penalty as a result and the Le Havre floodgates opened. Mason Greenwood made no mistake from the spot in what proved a historic evening for the 24-year-old.
AdvertisementGreenwood makes history for Marseille
While Le Havre managed to hold Marseille until the 67th minute, their resolve was well and truly broken as Greenwood scored his and Marseille's second midway through the second half. The former Manchester United completed his hat-trick in the 72nd minute before adding a fourth four minutes later.
Greenwood made history in an entertaining Velodrome clash as he became the first Marseille player to score four times in a single league game since Jean-Pierre Papin netted four in a resounding 7-0 win over Lyon back in 1991. The drama didn't end there either as Robinio Vaz added a fifth for Roberto De Zerbi's men in the 88th minute.
Abdoulaye Toure added a 91st minute consolation for Le Havre, and there was still time for Amir Murillo to restore Marseille's four-goal lead a minute later in an eventual 6-2 win for L'OM. The result means Marseille have scored more goals (21) than any other team in Ligue 1 as they look to claim a first Ligue 1 title since 2010, and their 10th in their history.
AFP'I have already threatened the players'
Marseille have been in rampant form since their 2-1 loss to Real Madrid last month. Timothy Weah had fired the French side ahead at the Bernabeu but Real Madrid responded through Kylian Mbappe in the Champions League tie. Dani Carvajal was dismissed midway through the second half of the European clash but Los Blancos had enough to secure all the spoils as Mbappe scored his as Real Madrid's second to secure a matchday one win.
De Zerbi's side did follow up the defeat with a 1-0 Classique win over PSG and the Italian issued a warning after that home triumph. "This victory should not give anything more to the team," the Italian said last month.
"The defeat in Madrid brought us a lot, made us realise that we have strong players. The squad is strong, we know that, but Friday will be even more important than tonight's match.
"I have already threatened the players, they know it. If we beat Paris and then tap dance against Strasbourg, it means we are not a great team."
Marseille certainly heeded De Zerbi's advice as they followed up the win over PSG with a 2-1 victory at Strasbourg. Subsequent wins over Ajax, Metz and Le Havre means they have won five on the spin in all competitions since defeat in Madrid.
What comes next?
Marseille will look to make it six wins in succession when they resume their Champions League campaign next week. De Zerbi takes his squad to Lisbon where they take on defending Liga Portugal champions Sporting CP for the first time since a 2-0 win in the Portuguese capital back in 2022.
Sporting currently find themselves three points behind league leaders FC Porto in Liga Portugal having been held to a 1-1 draw with Braga prior to the international break. Rui Borges' side, meanwhile, smashed Kairat Almaty in their opening Champions League clash but fell to a 2-1 loss at Napoli last month as a Rasmus Hojlund brace condemned Sporting to defeat in Italy.
