Auba the dragon slayer! Marseille players oozing with Gattuso's intensity

Gennaro Gattuso earned his first win since being appointed Olympique de Marseille head coach, as a convincing 3-0 victory over ten-man Le Havre pushed L’OM into the top half of the Ligue 1 standings.

Marseille cruised to take the lead inside the opening 20 minutes thanks to an own goal, with Arouna Sangante unluckily directing Iliman Ndiaye’s cross into his own net. Having surrendered leads against Brighton & Hove Albion and Monaco in their previous two matches, Les Olympiens upped the ante and doubled their advantage just five minutes later. Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang executed a cheeky finish, fantastically dinking the ball over goalkeeper Arthur Desmas following a defence-splitting pass from Amine Harit.

Le Havre were lucky not to concede a third as halftime approached despite Marseille’s mounting pressure. However, the visitors were dealt a setback before the break in another form, as Rassoul Ndiaye was dismissed after a cynical challenge on Ismaïla Sarr earned him a second yellow card.

No Ligue 1 side has been as defensively solid at home recently as Marseille, who have shipped just one goal in three games, and Le Havre didn’t look like finding the back of the net here. Gattuso’s men, meanwhile, continued to knock on Desmas’ door. Ndiaye, who forced the opener, missed a sitter following the restart, before Luka Elsner tried inspiring the visitors by introducing a couple of fresh faces. However, much to the dismay of the visiting manager, his newly-promoted outfit failed to threaten the hosts, instead conceding for the first time after the hour mark this season when Sarr finished impeccably from close range following Aubameyang’s clever assist.

Falling to their maiden away defeat this campaign, the Dragons also endured consecutive league losses for the first time this season. They remain winless at Stade Vélodrome since December 1938, which was the first meeting between the two sides. Meanwhile, Gattuso will hope this first victory in seven competitive outings can kickstart Marseille’s campaign.

LIGUE 1 - MATCHDAY 8

Friday

Strasbourg - Nantes 1-2 (0-0)

/Sahi 90+2 - Coco 50, Moutoussamy 58/

Saturday

Metz - Nice 0-1 (0-1)

/Boudaoui 14/

Reims - Monaco 1-3 (0-1)

/Teuma 57 pen - Jakobs 46, Balogun 46, Ben Yedder 49/

Sunday

Olympique Marseille - Le Havre 3-0 (2-0)

/Sangante 18 og, Aubameyang 21, Sarr 84/

16.00: (1.79) Olympique Lyon (3.60) Lorient (4.90)

16.00: (1.85) Montpellier (3.50) Clermont (4.40)

16.00: (1.89) Brest (3.50) Toulouse (4.40)

18.05: (2.40) Lens (3.45) Lille (3.20)

21.45: (3.45) Rennes (3.50) PSG (2.24)

***odds are subject to change***