Ruthless Marseille Smash Five Past Nice to Leap Top of Ligue 1
Olympique Marseille stormed to the summit of Ligue 1 on Sunday night after smashing bitter rivals Nice 5-1 in a wild derby at the Allianz Riviera, a result that left the home crowd stunned and their defence looking like it’s still somewhere on the Promenade des Anglais.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang got the party going early, poking home after just 11 minutes from a scrappy corner — his fifth league goal of the campaign — and from that moment Nice was hanging on like a side praying for the whistle. Mason Greenwood, lively all evening, nearly doubled the lead half an hour in, only to see Yehvann Diouf tip his drive round the post. But the pressure was relentless, and moments later Greenwood did make it 2-0, his effort taking a wicked nick that wrong-footed the keeper.
That second goal sparked a proper melee, players squaring up, shirts grabbed, a bit of shoving — the whole thing taking an age to calm down as the referee looked like he’d rather be anywhere else. Nice nearly clawed one back before the break when Terem Moffi tried an outrageous back-heeled volley, brilliantly clawed away by Jeffrey de Lange. Moffi then wasted a sitter in stoppage time, and Marseille should’ve punished them straight after when Igor Paixão somehow botched a one-on-one.
The second half kicked off just as frantic, Moffi again denied by de Lange, and again Nice was made to pay instantly. Greenwood, ice-cold and in no mood to mess about, drilled in his second of the night from the edge of the box for his 10th league goal of the season. By then the home defence was in bits, and Marseille sensed blood.
On 58 minutes Timothy Weah rifled in number four after neat work from Aubameyang, the noise inside the ground dropping to near silence except for the Marseille end giving it the big one. Nice finally pulled one back through Mohamed-Ali Cho after the hour, but even he didn’t bother celebrating — everyone in the place knew it was long gone.
The final blow came on 74 minutes, Aubameyang again involved as he squared unselfishly for Paixão to roll in number five, sending the home supporters streaming for the exits. It was ruthless, proper derby-day stuff, and Marseille loved every second of it.
The win — their third league victory on the spin — nudges Marseille a point above PSG at the top, though the champions has a game in hand. Nice, meanwhile, stay stuck in mid-table in ninth, wondering how on earth it all unravelled so badly. Marseille, though, march on with title talk starting to bubble louder by the week.