April 11, (THEWILL) — Olympique de Marseille returned to Ligue 1’s top three on Thursday after defeating bottom-placed FC Metz 3-1 at the Vélodrome, extending their unbeaten head-to-head record against the visitors to 11 matches across all competitions.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang opened the scoring before the quarter-hour mark, finishing into the top-left corner after Mason Greenwood found him in behind on the counter-attack from a Metz set-piece. The Gabon international thought he had a second goal shortly after the half-hour but was denied by a narrow offside decision. Metz nearly levelled before the interval when Gauthier Hein struck the post.
Greenwood again led a swift counter from a Metz corner early in the second half, laying off Igor Paixão for a composed chip over goalkeeper Pape Sy to double the lead. Within a minute, however, Giorgi Tsitaishvili cut inside from the right and reduced the deficit, his shot squirming through the legs of Gerónimo Rulli.
Marseille pressed for a third throughout the remainder of the contest, with Aubameyang and Quinten Timber both going close. The decisive goal arrived in stoppage time when Amine Gouiri teed up Hamed Traorè to finish and confirm the victory, though manager Habib Beye acknowledged his side’s missed opportunities remained a concern.
The result marks Beye’s fourth win since he took charge, keeping Marseille in contention for UEFA Champions League qualification next season. Metz, for their part, sit eight points below the relegation play-off position with only five fixtures remaining and face a difficult battle to avoid an immediate return to Ligue 2.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
