Arriving into the game on the back of two consecutive victories following a six-game winless start to the season, Angers looked hungry from the outset to further damage Marseille’s hopes of playing catch-up with league leaders Paris Saint-Germain. Despite the visitors pushing back, it was Les Scoïstes who registered the first real threat when Nabil Bentaleb’s venomous shot struck the left post.
Perhaps motivated by the return of Sofiane Boufal – Angers’ most influential player this season with five goal contributions, the home side continued to overshadow the opposition midfield, with Adrien Hunou coming agonizingly close to drawing first blood from close range. However, a superb individual effort by Jonathan Clauss turned the tide in the favour of Les Olympiens, as he sliced through the left wing and etched an excellent finish in off the near post in the 35th minute.
Having comfortably held their lead, Marseille upped the ante immediately after restart, as goalscorer Clauss turned provider to brilliantly set up Luis Suarez’s tap-in from point-blank range - the Colombian’s third goal of the season. Thereafter, Angers nosedived into a spiral, conceding the third shortly after via Gerson’s quality finish from inside the box on the hour mark, curling the ball past Yahia Fofana with distinguished accuracy. As the final quarter-hour dawned, a host of substitutions were made by both managers, but it made little difference to the scoreline despite the hosts coming close on a couple of occasions.
The quality of finishing in front of goal made all the difference in the end, as Marseille jump past PSG as Ligue 1 leaders having played a game more. On the other hand, Gérald Baticle will be utterly disappointed with the final result, having witnessed his team go shoulder to shoulder against the visitors in the opening half. A first defeat in three matches means that Angers will have to motivate themselves once again in order to get back to winning ways.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jonathan Clauss (Olympique de Marseille)