PARIS: Two goals in the space of a minute by former Manchester United striker Mason Greenwood provided the fuel for Marseille to burn off Toulouse 3-1 on Saturday and climb to the top of Ligue 1.
The 22-year-old Greenwood, who scored twice on his Marseille debut against Brest a fortnight ago and once against Reims last week, pounced in the 16th minute in Toulouse before adding a second a minute later to make it five goals in three games.
Greenwood arrived last month from Old Trafford, where his career began in promising fashion before he was suspended in January 2022 following allegations of attempted rape and sexual assault.
Prosecutors dropped charges in February 2023 and he went on to spend last season in Spain at Getafe.
Toulouse's task was made harder by the red card handed out to forward Frank Magri in the 27th minute for a foul on Geoffrey Kondogbia.
Brazilian forward Luis Henrique provided the assists for both Greenwood goals and thought he had got himself on the scoresheet seven minutes into the second half but Marseille's third was later awarded as an own goal to Charlie Cresswell.
Just before the end, Toulouse did find some consolation when the Gabon striker Shavy Babicka ran on to a through ball from Djibril Sidibe before sidestepping Geronimo Rulli and sliding the ball into the empty net.
"We had a good first half, scoring two goals," Marseille coach Roberto De Zerbi told DAZN after the match.
"It gave us an advantage to have an extra player and we relied on our strength in one-on-ones, particularly Greenwood, to score the brace.
"We still need to improve the speed and mentality of this team. We shouldn't have conceded the goal, should have won 3-0."
De Zerbi's side now top the table with seven points, level with Nantes who won 3-1 away at Montpellier.
Matthis Abline put Nantes ahead after 24 minutes before Akor Adams levelled on the half-hour.
A Moses Simon penalty in added time at the end of the first half restored the visitors' lead before Mostafa Mohamed made sure of the three points with the third five minutes from time.
"Seven points out of nine, that's brilliant. We are super happy," said a delighted Nantes coach Antoine Kombouare.
Brest secured their first win of the season with a 4-0 hammering of newly-promoted Saint-Etienne.
Mahdi Camara and Romain Del Castillo from the penalty spot put Brest two-up at half-time and they cruised to a comfortable win with further goals in the second half from Ludovic Ajorque and another penalty from Kenny Lala.
Reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain, who have six points, can go top of the table with victory at Lille on Sunday.--AFP