Marseille thump Bastia as Rennes go second
Struggling Marseille secured a vital three points on Sunday as they
thrashed Mediterranean rivals Bastia 4-1, while Rennes climbed up to
second in Ligue 1 after beating nine-man Nantes 2-0.
A turbulent first month of the season had left Marseille with just
three points from four matches and one place above the relegation zone
prior to kick-off at the Stade Velodrome.
But the international break appeared to arrive at just the right time
for Michel’s side as a refreshed OM took a 16th-minute lead through
Benjamin Mendy before a second-period brace from Romain Alessandrini and
subsequent strike from Michy Batshuayi lifted the gloom.
“What did I like (about the performance)? Everything,” a beaming Michel said afterwards.
“The end product from my players made me very proud. When I see them
play like that I have to thank them because I think the team has the
resources required to play at this high level.”
“Bastia weren’t perhaps at the level we thought they would be tonight, but we played a fantastic match,” added the Spaniard.
Brandao netted a consolation effort against his former side as Bastia
slid to a second straight defeat, having started the campaign by taking
seven points from their first three matches.
The honeymoon period for Michel, whose side destroyed Troyes 6-0 on
his debut, did not last long as the Spaniard saw his men slide to a 2-0
defeat at Guingamp last time out.
However, a two-week break from domestic action and a chance for the
ex-Real Madrid winger to fully get to know his players seemingly proved
the ideal tonic for a team that slumped to three defeats in four August
outings.
A well-worked corner picked out Mendy who curled home a sumptuous strike from the edge of the box to put Marseille in front.
Alessandrini, Batshuayi and Remy Cabella had chances to double the
hosts’ advantage before half-time but Alessandrini made no mistake just
seconds after the resumption as he broke in behind the Corsican defence
and slammed the ball past Jesper Hansen.
Alessandrini calmly side-footed home his second of the evening on 66
minutes after Bastia failed to properly clear Javier Manquillo’s cross
before Batshuayi flicked home a fourth when he converted Mendy’s low
cross four minutes later.
Julian Palmieri picked out ex-Marseille striker Brandao as the
Brazilian sent a thumping header beyond a helpless Steve Mandanda 12
minutes from time, the only blot on an otherwise encouraging Marseille
performance.
Earlier, Rennes closed to within one point of leaders Paris
Saint-Germain after beating Brittany rivals Nantes 2-0 to make it four
wins on the trot for Philippe Montanier’s men.
Paul-Georges Ntep marked his first start of the season by scoring the
opening goal on 67 minutes with Nantes reduced to 10 men by that stage
after Adryan was harshly dismissed for a challenge of Edson Mexer.
Things got worse for the home side with Kolbeinn Sigthorsson also
sent off before Giovanni Sio wrapped up the points a minute from time.
Rennes, off to their best start since the 1950-51 season, could go
top next Friday with a victory at home to Lille as PSG are not in action
until Saturday, when the reigning champions make the short trip to
Reims.
Monaco began life after Anthony Martial by picking up just their
second win of the campaign with a 1-0 victory over bottom side Gazelec
Ajaccio courtesy of Fabinho’s first-half penalty.