Goals either side of half time from Michy Batshuayi and Georges-Kevin Nkoudou ensured that Marseille recorded a timely 2-0 victory over hosts Saint-Etienne in Ligue 1 this evening.
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The visiting side were the first to threaten when Lucas Ocampos found some space inside the area, only to fire straight down the throat of Etienne stopper Stephane Ruffier.
During a lively start, Etienne soon hit back through Kevin Monnet-Paquet, who saw his driven effort kept out by a diving Steve Mandanda in the Marseille goal.
Both sides had chances to break the deadlock in the first period, but it was OM who were most clinical as they found a lead through Belgian youngster Batshuayi just before the break.
Marseille continued to display some strong attacking intent after the interval, and they soon had an important second goal when Batshuayi turned provider for Nkoudou, who was able to finish neatly into the bottom-right corner.
Etienne might have established a tense finish to the game with a goal of their own, but Romain Hamouma unluckily saw his free kick beat the wall but cannon back off a post as Marseille left the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard with three points.
Christopher Dodd
