Newcastle took a hose to the Stade Velodrome hostility at the start of the first half, and then set fire to their lead at the start of the second.
They just can’t be trusted on the road or, it would now appear, by air. This was a fourth straight away-day loss and their first in the Champions League.
In front thanks to an early goal from Harvey Barnes and having quietened a home crowd raised on intimidation, a rush of blood from Nick Pope allowed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to equalise within 30 seconds of the second period and the former Arsenal man nicked what proved to be the winner just four minutes later. This, though, was no robbery.
For the third away game on the spin, Eddie Howe’s side led and lost. When they go in front it’s as if their brains fall behind - sloppiness creeps in, chances are coughed up and they end up choking, the foundations of victory crumbling beneath their wayward feet.
A brilliant 2-1 win over Manchester City at the weekend - defined by equal quality and aggression - was a long way from this, and it again raises questions over consistency.
‘That was particularly painful,’ said Howe. ‘We worked ourselves into a strong position. The poor goal at the start of the second rocked us. There is a big feeling of frustration, because we had dealt with the hostility and atmosphere.’
Newcastle will still likely progress to the play-off round, so forgiving is the Champions League, but Howe should not forgive so easily some of the mistakes that stained this performance. Come the end, their blistering start was a hazy memory.
They had silenced the home welcome - welcome in the sense of whistles, jeers, bangers and boos. This was not just a front-foot start, they threw their heads and hearts upfield too.
The ferocity of their opening brought a deserved lead when Barnes steered in from a Sandro Tonali cross and they continued to create openings during the first 45 minutes.
So, when does the Barnes country-v-country row start? After talk last week of a Scotland call-up ahead of the World Cup, the winger might well retain ambitions of adding to his one England cap, given this was his seventh goal of the season.
He was one of the few to emerge with credit here and nearly whipped in a leveller late on.
There were eight more visiting shots before half-time but also the same number at the other end. It felt as if they should have been shooting into a basket, so open was the contest.
Marseille were gifted some chances by Newcastle’s untidiness and crafted others through the likes of Mason Greenwood - but every time Aubameyang either shot wide or straight at Pope.
Half-time appeared to arrive at a good time for both sides, but only one of them emerged with cohesion and control, and it was not Newcastle. There were just 26 seconds on the clock when the hosts drew parity.
It felt as if the joypad had jammed on the rush-out trigger when Pope left his area to meet Darryl Bakola’s ball in behind. The problem was, while Pope galloped, Aubameyang sprinted.
The striker won the foot race with yards to spare and skipped around the yellow-clad goalie and his red face.
There was still work to do from a narrow angle 40 yards out but the calculated the geometrics within the split-second it took him to chop just inside the post.
Malick Thiaw, recovering to get on terms with Aubameyang, had waved at Pope to stay in his penalty box, but soon Newcastle were waving goodbye to their advantage.
Aubameyang was quicker than Fabian Schar in connecting with Timothy Weah’s near-post sweep and he prodded first time beyond Pope.
It detonated a noise that caused the stadium to shake, and maybe it was that the cups of beer raining down on the press box were ejected involuntarily.
Very quickly this place was perfumed by ale and the thick red smoke of celebratory flares.
In truth, though, it was Newcastle stinking the place out.
ziziuipeo
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They play like even a dead person would suffer from a heart attack.