Marseille continued their impressive start to the season under new coach Roberto De Zerbi by beating Nice 2-0 on Saturday to go provisionally top of Ligue 1, despite finishing the match with 10 men.
Mason Greenwood was unable to add to his remarkable tally of five goals in his first three matches in French football, but there was a debut goal for new signing Neal Maupay before a brilliant strike by Luis Henrique sealed the victory.
Marseille had Canadian defender Derek Cornelius sent off late on, but held on for the win which moved them to 10 points from four matches.
That lifted them a point clear of Paris Saint-Germain, although the defending champions will return to the summit if they can maintain their perfect start to the campaign by beating Brest later.
🏁 𝐓𝐎𝐏 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄 ✅
— Olympique de Marseille 🇬🇧 🇺🇸 (@OM_English) September 14, 2024
Goals from Neal Maupay and Luis Henrique seal the three points in the Mediterranean Derby! 💥#OMOGCN | 2⃣ - 0⃣ | ⚪️🔵 pic.twitter.com/Um2ziyVcCB
"We have had an almost perfect start. I wasn't too pleased with how we played today, but football is not just about quality. It is also about character, and blood, and in that sense we were excellent," said De Zerbi.
The game at the Velodrome was watched by a crowd of more than 65 000 and there was a celebratory atmosphere as Marseille wore a collectors' edition shirt to mark their 125th birthday and fans set off fireworks late on, bringing the game to a brief halt.
"In such passionate cities, you need a strong link between fans and players, otherwise you can't do anything," De Zerbi said when asked about the raucous atmosphere.
Maupay opened the scoring five minutes before halftime in this Mediterranean derby when he headed in a deflected cross by Luis Henrique for his first goal since returning to French football from Everton.
Luis Henrique, the Brazilian winger, made it 2-0 with a magnificent goal eight minutes into the second half as he came in off the left flank and played a quick exchange with Amine Harit before curling a shot high into the net.
Cornelius was dismissed for a second yellow late on 75 minutes, but that did not stop OM getting all three points, and hopes will be high that they can push PSG in the title race if they can keep playing like this.
"Just as the fans have dreams, so do we, but there is also the reality. We have made so many changes in a short time and we still have huge margin for improvement," De Zerbi added.