Olympique Marseille took a big step toward qualifying for the Europa League quarterfinals with a 3-1 victory over Athletic Bilbao…
Olympique Marseille forward Lucas Ocampos celebrates after scoring (Photo: AFP)
Olympique Marseille took a big step toward qualifying for the Europa League quarterfinals with a 3-1 victory over Athletic Bilbao in the first leg of their round of 16 tie here.
Thursday’s match had barely begun when Athletic’s Susaeta gave away the ball in midfield, spurring a Marseille attack that resulted in a goal by Lucas Ocampos to make it 1-0 for the hosts just 44 seconds after the opening whistle, reports Efe news agency.
Things got even worse for the visitors in the 14th minute, when a poor clearance by Etxeita set up an easy goal by Dimitri Payet to double Marseille’s advantage.
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And over the next four minutes, only the heroics of Athletic keeper Iago Herrerin kept his side from falling behind 4-0, as he denied Germain on successive occasions.
Aritz Aduriz had a chance to claw back a goal, but put too much on the shot and the ball went well wide.
Just as it looked like half-time couldn’t come soon enough for Athletic, the referee awarded a penalty for a foul by Rami in first-half stoppage time and Aduriz – the leading scorer in the Europa League – stepped to the line and converted to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Bilbao did better at the start of the second period, yet it was Marseille who scored the decisive next goal, a rocket from Ocampos in the 57th minute to bring the score to 3-1.
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