Marseille thump Bastia in Ligue 1

AFP, PARIS: Struggling Marseille secured a vital three points on Sunday as they thrashed Mediterranean rivals Bastia 4-1, while Rennes climbed up to second in Ligue 1 after beating nine-man Nantes 2-0. A turbulent first month of the season had left Marseille with just three points from four matches and one place above the relegation zone prior to kick-off at the Stade Velodrome.
But the international break appeared to arrive at just the right time for Michel’s side as a refreshed OM took a 16th-minute lead through Benjamin Mendy before a second-period brace from Romain Alessandrini and subsequent strike from Michy Batshuayi lifted the gloom. Brandao netted a consolation effort against his former side as Bastia slid to a second straight defeat, having started the campaign by taking seven points from their first three matches.
The honeymoon period for Michel, whose side destroyed Troyes 6-0 on his debut, did not last long as the Spaniard saw his men slide to a 2-0 defeat at Guingamp last time out. However, a two-week break from domestic action and a chance for the ex-Real Madrid winger to fully get to know his players seemingly proved the ideal tonic for a team that slumped to three defeats in four August outings. A well-worked corner picked out Mendy who curled home
a sumptuous strike from the edge of the box to put Marseille in front.
Alessandrini, Batshuayi and Remy Cabella had chances to double the hosts’ advantage before half-time but Alessandrini made no mistake just seconds after the resumption as he broke in behind the Corsican defence and slammed the ball past Jesper Hansen. Alessandrini calmly side-footed home his second of the evening on 66 minutes after Bastia failed to properly clear Javier Manquillo’s cross before Batshuayi flicked home a fourth when he converted Mendy’s low cross four minutes later.

Marseille thump Bastia in Ligue 1

AFP, PARIS: Struggling Marseille secured a vital three points on Sunday as they thrashed Mediterranean rivals Bastia 4-1, while Rennes climbed up to second in Ligue 1 after beating nine-man Nantes 2-0. A turbulent first month of the season had left Marseille with just three points from four matches and one place above the relegation zone prior to kick-off at the Stade Velodrome. But the international break appeared to arrive at just the right time for Michels side as a refreshed OM took a 16th-minute lead through Benjamin Mendy before a second-period brace from Romain Alessandrini and subsequent strike from Michy Batshuayi lifted the gloom. Brandao netted a consolation effort against his former side as Bastia slid to a second straight defeat, having started the campaign by taking seven points from their first three matches. The honeymoon period for Michel, whose side destroyed Troyes 6-0 on his debut, did not last long as the Spaniard saw his men slide to a 2-0 defeat at Guingamp last time out. However, a two-week break from domestic action and a chance for the ex-Real Madrid winger to fully get to know his players seemingly proved the ideal tonic for a team that slumped to three defeats in four August outings. A well-worked corner picked out Mendy who curled home a sumptuous strike from the edge of the box to put Marseille in front. Alessandrini, Batshuayi and Remy Cabella had chances to double the hosts advantage before half-time but Alessandrini made no mistake just seconds after the resumption as he broke in behind the Corsican defence and slammed the ball past Jesper Hansen. Alessandrini calmly side-footed home his second of the evening on 66 minutes after Bastia failed to properly clear Javier Manquillos cross before Batshuayi flicked home a fourth when he converted Mendys low cross four minutes later.