With Marseille going into this matchup as one of only two sides unbeaten at home in Ligue 1 this season, and taking on a Lyon side already on its third manager of the season, it was no surprise to see Les Phoceens dominate the first half.
After a somewhat quiet opening 20 minutes, Lyon fell asleep at the back, allowing Jordan Veretout to run behind and square for an onrushing Vitinha to slide in and put the Olympians one up.
There was plenty of anger amongst the Lyon ranks, with nothing given for an alleged Renan Lodi foul on Rayan Cherki in the build up, with Dejan Lovren booked for dissent.
However, they had nobody to blame but themselves for the follow-up strike that came just four minutes later, when Aubameyang wiped out the entire left flank with fancy footwork, before flighting in a cross to the far post, where Amir Murillo was waiting to head in and double Marseille’s lead.
The half-time whistle could come soon enough for the battered Lyon. But it proved to be a mere armistice, as Marseille soon found themselves three up.
A turnaround in possession far up the field allowed Vitinha to charge forward, and while Lovren was challenging him all the way, a slip from the Croatian just outside the box allowed the Portuguese forward the chance to drag the ball back to Aubameyang. He made no mistake, hammering in a shot as he rushed into the box to seal all three points.
Marseille knew it was job done, though they would have still felt somewhat aggrieved when a fourth goal was chalked off. Another defensive mixup in the Lyon box allowed Vitinha to head in Samuel Gigot’s cross from two yards out, but with his hand meeting the ball en-route to goal, as he collapsed under pressure from his marker, the goal was swiftly disallowed by a VAR review.
Chances somewhat thinned out after that incident, but Bilal Nadir still had time to strike the base of the far post from distance, with Anthony Lopes well beaten. While the result has only moved them up to eighth, Marseille will take great encouragement from a clinical attacking display.
Gennaro Gatusso’s league record with the Olympians is now level once more (W3, D2, L3), while Lyon remain six points adrift of safety, and looking ever more likely to turn their back on 35 unbroken years of top-flight membership next spring.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang(Marseille)
Check out the match report here.
