Maupay opens Marseille account as De Zerbi's side make easy work of Nice to go top
Marseille came into this game in fine form, finding themselves second after three games after achieving the club’s highest goal tally at this point in 70 years, and Roberto De Zerbi’s side showed no sign of slowing down, going close after just four minutes when Neal Maupay’s cutback found Luis Henrique in a dangerous position, but the Brazilian’s effort was saved comfortably in the centre of the goal by Marcin Bulka.
After the home side’s fast start seemed to simmer down, both sides struggled to fashion goalscoring opportunities, but Marseille continued to dominate possession as they attempted to find the opener, which they thought they’d done with just under 10 minutes to play in the first half. Maupay found the back of the net, but the Frenchman was denied a debut goal against his former side after being ruled offside.
The forward wasn’t going to be denied that easily though and he found the net just four minutes later, after he connected with Henrique’s lofted pass to head into the bottom-right corner from close-range.
The hosts continued to play on the front foot after the break and were rewarded eight minutes into the second half when they doubled their lead.
Henrique was involved in the goal again, but this time the Brazilian was the goalscorer, after he collected Amine Harit’s pass on the edge of the area, before firing into the top-right corner to double the advantage.
The home side looked comfortable following their second goal, but Nice were handed a lifeline with 15 minutes remaining as Marseille were reduced to 10 men after Derek Cornelius was handed a second yellow card for time-wasting whilst taking a free-kick.
The visitors struggled to capitalise on their man advantage though, and Marseille managed to see out the game to secure their first clean sheet of the campaign and continue their unbeaten start.
The win moves De Zerbi’s side to the top of the Ligue 1 standings ahead of PSG’s game against Brest in the late kick-off. Meanwhile, Nice sit in ninth after a tough start that has seen Les Aiglons win just one of their opening four matches (D1, L2).
Flashscore Man of the Match: Luis Henrique (Marseille)