Faced with one of the most difficult fixtures in the division on paper, Paris settled well and immediately gave Roberto De Zerbi’s men a scare when Nhoa Sangui’s searching cross from the left was headed against the post by Willem Geubbels.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang then hit the upright at the other end, before he was tripped in the box by Otávio to earn his side a penalty. Mason Greenwood stepped up after a VAR review and tucked home from 12 yards to open his side’s account for the season.
Les Olympiens doubled their lead just six minutes later with the same two players involved, as Greenwood’s corner was stabbed home at the back post by Aubameyang, who brought up 300 direct goal contributions in Europe’s top-five leagues with that strike (G237, A63).
Stéphane Gilli’s men had a mountain to climb if they were to mount a comeback, but a piece of brilliance from Ilan Kebbal helped ease their task when he cut in from the right and arrowed a strike into the far corner.
Marseille were clearly shaken by that goal, and after an unconvincing start to the second period, they were pegged back to 2-2 by Moses Simon. The Nigerian failed to score in 11 matches against Marseille as a Nantes player, but finally broke his duck with a sliding finish after he was brilliantly slotted through by Kebbal.
The hosts threatened to restore their lead when Leonardo Balerdi’s header from a corner was brilliantly saved, but Kebbal continued to cause problems as he capitalised on a poor clearance to let fly from long range, landing his strike on the roof of the net.
De Zerbi’s men kept applying pressure, and eventually it told as Paris were caught in possession at the back and Aubameyang applied a clinical first-time finish to restore Marseille’s lead.
Victory was secured when Pierre-Emile Højbjerg smashed an incredible drive from 25 yards into the bottom corner, and while Greenwood’s penalty miss provided a reprieve, Robinio Vaz rifled in at the near post in stoppage time.
That fifth goal put the seal on a fifth successive home league win for Marseille, while Paris are rooted to the foot of the table after back-to-back defeats.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Olympique de Marseille)