Marseille Routed in Nantes to Shatter Top Four Dreams

The away fans section stood empty while sections of the Nantes crowd observed a quiet demonstration during the initial 30 minutes creating a muted setting for the clash between two struggling teams.

Les Canaris controlled much of the opening period with Deiver Machado posing a real threat on the left flank. It proved a significant setback when the Colombian defender had to leave the pitch through injury and it took until the 33rd minute for a shot to test the keeper.

Nantes managed that chance yet Jeffrey de Lange proved up to the task denying Remy Cabella after a pass from Matthis Abline.

A swift Nantes counter soon after required another strong intervention from the Marseille shot stopper who denied Mohamed Kaba impressively to maintain parity at the break.

Considering the home side had managed just 10 second half strikes in the league this season their prospects of sustaining that control seemed limited. Yet they fired in three goals within eight minutes just before the hour mark to secure only their third home league triumph of the year.

The onslaught began as Ignatius Ganago finished neatly from Abline’s pull back followed by the forward assisting Cabella who netted against his old team for the second occasion this campaign.

The stunned away side were still recovering when Abline delivered a superb finish slicing inside from the right and evading Facundo Medina and Leandro Balerdi before powerfully striking in only his sixth Ligue 1 strike this term.

Marseille offered little comeback facing a fifth loss in their past six league fixtures which opens the door for Monaco to displace them from the top six later this weekend and renders a top four spot and Champions League qualification all but impossible.

Nantes draw nearer to escaping the relegation play off zone by two points following their first home victory over Marseille since December 2018.