Marseille 3-1 Lens: Nwaneri and Gouiri brace hand PSG title advantage

Lens failed to move back to the Ligue 1 summit after a 3-1 defeat to Marseille snapped their eight-match winning run.

After Paris Saint-Germain moved to the top of the league on Friday, all the pressure was on Lens to respond, but Amine Gouiri scored either side of Ethan Nwaneri's debut goal to see the Parisiens now hold a two-point advantage in top spot.

Marseille took the lead after just three minutes, with Gouiri forcing his way through a crowd of defenders in the box before his poked effort at goal was deflected past Robin Risser between the sticks.

Arsenal loanee Nwaneri then produced a moment of magic soon after, receiving the ball on the halfway line and driving to the edge of the box before slotting through the legs of the defender and into the bottom-left corner.

Gouiri then doubled his tally in the 75th minute, showing great instincts to get on the end of a low cross from Timothy Weah and score from close range.

Lens substitute Rayan Fofana scored a consolation at the Orange Velodrome, but it was too little too late as Roberto De Zerbi's side picked up a big win at home.

Data Debrief: It's a team game

Nwaneri became Marseille's 19th goalscorer this season in all competitions, joint-highest tally among teams in the European top five with PSG, Eintracht Frankfurt and Chelsea. Marseille have only had more different goalscorers in 2022-23 (22) over the last 80 seasons.

And it was a positive debut for the teenager, who was subbed off in the 58th minute. He hit the target with both of his shots, won four of his seven duels and completed the most dribbles in the match out of players who were 100% successful with their attempts (three).

Despite the scoreline, there was little to separate the two sides in the expected goals (xG) battle. Marseille produced 0.88 from their 10 attempts to Lens' 0.91 from seven shots.