Aubameyang's hat-trick pushes Marseille into the next round of Europa League

Just three points above the relegation zone, and only one win in six games in Ligue 1 so far. It‘s safe to say that Gennaro Gattuso‘s start as a Marseille coach has not been good at all. The Italian tactician has already had one of his famous rants, this time in France, when his team barely managed a draw in Strasbourg. The fierce Italian demanded the reaction from his players after a ‚embarrassing display‘ and tonight he got it. Marseille defeated Ajax 4-3 in the fifth round of the Europa League and secured a place in the knockout stage. The only dilemma is will the French team be the first or the second, and they can‘t loose at Brighton in order to be first. Gattuso is still without a loss in Europe League, and this win was recorded in a great and entertaining game.

When the season started, these teams played 2-2 in Amsterdam and that was the result in France after the first 45 minutes. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is yet to score in Ligue 1 since October, but tonight he found his groove in Europe. Former Arsenal and Barcelona striker scored only five goals in 17 games and his vary form is the one of the reasons that the famous French club is not playing well. But tonight he was the savior with three goals, two penalties and one beautiful bicycle kick.

Marseille got the best possible start when Ajax conceded a penalty in the 8th minute. Ideal for Aubameyang to finally get going, but soon Brian Brobbey equalized. The great striker also denied Marseille‘s second goal in the 30th minute (Mbemba scored for the hosts), but then Auba scored his second goal at the start of the other half with beautiful bicycle kick. From that it all looked good for Gattuso‘s team, especially after Berghius got the red card, but the Dutch giants managed to score an equalizer with 10 men in the 79th minute. Stunned hosts needed some time to get a grip of what happened, but it was already 90th minute. But Ajax keeper Ramaj mishandled the ball in his penalty area and then brought down Sarr. Former Barca striker was calm and brought victory to his new team.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

Group stage - Matchday 5

Thursday

Freiburg - Olympiakos 5-0 (4-0)

/Gregoritsh 3, 8, 36, Sildillia 42, Doan 77/

TSC Backa Topola - West Ham 0-1 (0-0)

/Soucek 89/

AEK - Brighton 0-1 (0-0)

/Pedro 55/

Sparta Praha - Betis 1-0 (0-0)

/Haraslin 54/

Atalanta - Sporting 1-1 (1-0)

/Scamacca 23 - Edwards 56/

Sturm - Rakow 0-1 (0-0)

/Jeboah 81/

Maccabi Haifa - Rennes 0-3 (0-1)

/Terrier 29, Gouiri 47, Rieder 90+3/

Hacken - Bayer Leverkusen 0-2 (0-1)

/Boniface 14, Schick 74/

Liverpool - LASK 4-0 (2-0)

/Diaz 12, Gakpo 15, 90+3, Salah 51 pen/

Toulouse - Royal Union Saint-Gilloise 0-0

Marseille - Ajax 4-3 (2-2)

/Aubameyang 9 pen, 48, 90+3 pen, Mbemba 26 - Brobbey 10, 30, Akpom 80/

Molde - Qarabag 2-2 (0-1)

/Eriksen 82, 87 - Juninho 12, Mustafazada 90+5/

Rangers - Aris 1-1 (0-1)

/McCausland 49 - Babicka 28/

Servette - Roma 1-1 (0-1)

/Bedia 50 - Lukaku 21/

Sheriff - Slavia 2-3 (1-1)

/Tobar 45+3, Mbekeli 56 - Jurecka 19, Zafeiris 78, Tijani 90+5 pen/

Villarreal - Panathiaikos 3-2 (2-0)

/Baena 29, Comesana 34, Morales 47 - Palacios 66, Ioannidis 81/