A hat-trick from Arkadiusz Milik helped Marseille fight back from two-goals down to beat Angers 5-2 at the Orange Vélodrome, as Round 23 of Ligue 1 Uber Eats kicked off in style on Friday night.
Olympique de Marseille 5-2 Angers SCO
THE MATCH
Claiming three points was the name of the game for Marseille on Friday evening. OM coach Jorge Sampaoli described Tuesday night's defeat at Lyon as a 'collective failure' and subsequently urged his players to bounce back against draw-specialists Angers - and bounce back is what they did.
Marseille should have been buoyed by the return of their fans at full capacity but with the first meaningful chance of the game, they fell behind.
Double whammy
A sequence of poor defending resulted in Marseille midfielder Gerson being dispossessed 6-yards from goal allowing Angers forward Angelo Fulgini to fire low past Pau Lopez, to break the deadlock (8').
If that wasn't enough to stun the Vélodrome, Angers doubled their lead just three-minutes later when Nabil Bentaleb's strike took a wicked deflection off Boubacar Kamara, to beat Lopez for a second time.
Fight back
But to their credit, Marseille showed they were not in the mood for throwing in the towel and hit back when Matteo Guendouzi carved open the visitors’ back line, allowing Arkadiusz Milik to stylishly beat Angers 'keeper Danijel Petkovic (18').
Then, Sampaoli's men returned the favour by netting a quick-fire double of their own, when Gerson made up for his earlier mistake by firing a low shot past Petkovic from 25-yards, to put the hosts on level terms (21').
A frantic start to the game tailed off for ten minutes to allow the crowd inside a red-hot Vélodrome to pause for breath. The game was a thrilling free-for-all and neither defence could cope with each other’s counter-attacking.
Marseille went close to taking the lead when Cédric Bakambu - making his home debut - fired into the side netting (34') before Petkovic denied Gerson his second of the night, blocking the Brazilian's effort with his legs, a minute later.
Bakambu squandered another chance for OM two-minutes before the break when his header from Dimitri Payet's searching ball sailed just wide of the post. Then, Angers showed that they were not ready for the half-time interval either when Azzedine Ounahi latched onto Sofiane Boufal's defence-splitting pass, but the 21-year-old Morocco international lacked composure and fired over, with just Lopez to beat.
It felt as though all the drama had been packed into the first-half as both teams approached the second period in a more cautious fashion.
OM should have taken the lead on the hour when Milik headed into the path of Bakambu but the DR Congo international was thwarted yet again by Petkovic from close range, with the goal gaping.
Sampaoli was pushing for a much-needed winner and introduced Cengiz Ünder, Valentin Rongier and Luan Peres in hope of breaching an unwavering Angers defence.
The changes paid off immediately as Ünder's long searching ball was flicked on by Gerson and headed home by Milik for the striker's second of the game, completing a fantastic turnaround (70').
With Angers against the ropes and tiring fast, Milik landed the knockout blow when he connected with another superb pass from Ünder to slot past Petkovic for his hat-trick (78').
A touch of class
Ünder then served up a moment of magic to finish off Gérald Baticle's men when he hit a stunning side-foot volley from 20-yards out, to the joy of Sampaoli and almost everybody inside the Vélodrome (85').
After the disappointment of Tuesday's collapse at Lyon, Friday's thrashing of Angers ensured Marseille provisionally climbed into second place on the table, ahead of Nice's game with Clermont on Sunday. Angers stay in 12th.
THE PLAYER: Arkadiusz Milik
After playing just four minutes in Tuesday night's defeat at Lyon, the Polish striker gave a statement performance to Jorge Sampaoli with his fabulous hat-trick. Milik was dangerous throughout and could have added to his tally. His link-up with Cengiz Ünder is showing signs of blossoming - an exciting prospect for the club with the race for Champions League qualifcation intensifying.
THE STAT: 4
Friday night's game was the first time four goals were scored in 21 minutes of a Ligue 1 Uber Eats game since Marseille's 5-2 defeat to Rennes, at the Vélodrome in March 2016.
