Strasbourg were yet to concede at home this season, but their chances of another clean sheet looked slim early on when Timothy Weah’s strike deflected off Mamadou Sarr and though Mike Penders kept it out, he presented the ball straight to Amine Gouiri, who fluffed his lines.
With the visitors piling on the early pressure, it was a surprise that Strasbourg were first to put the ball in the net after 17 minutes, but Emanuel Emegha failed to beat the high offside line before racing clear and rounding goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli.
That chance gave Liam Rosenior’s side belief, and soon after a swift attack resulted in Diego Moreira picking out Valentín Barco with a sweeping pass, but the Argentinian couldn’t find the target at full stretch.
However, Les Phocéens were soon back on top, and either side of the half-hour mark, Gouiri saw a free-kick saved by Penders, before he stabbed an effort narrowly wide when through on goal.
Igor Paixão was next to try his luck, but Penders was alert to the near-post effort to preserve parity until the break.
But within five minutes of the restart, the deadlock was broken by the home side – Emegha chased a long ball over the top down the right, before drawing the goalkeeper and squaring for half-time substitute Abdoul Ouattara to guide into the empty net.
The referee initially ruled it out for another offside against Emegha, but this time, VAR ruled in Strasbourg’s favour. In response, Gouiri continued to be frustrated, sending a cushioned volley inches wide.
The final quarter of the match began with a vital hook away from Nayef Aguerd to prevent Joaquín Panichelli nodding into an empty net, before the substitute forward was denied by Aguerd again when he blocked a goal-bound effort.
Those interventions proved crucial minutes later, as Le Racing casually gave up possession inside their half, allowing Pierre-Emile Højbjerg to set up Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, whose initial shot was saved by Penders, but he made no mistake with the rebound.
Højbjerg almost made it two in two minutes when his header struck the post, only for the Marseille winner to arrive in the 91st minute. Emerson Palmieri’s header was tipped onto the crossbar by Penders, but again he failed to clear, and Michael Murillo followed up to smash in the winner.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Pierre-Emile Højbjerg (Olympique de Marseille)
See a summary of the match here
