UCL: Greenwood brace seals valuable Marseille win in Brussels

Olympique de Marseille will go into their UEFA Champions League tie against Liverpool in January all that bit more comfortable after sealing a vital three points against Union Saint-Gilloise on Tuesday evening (2-3). OM would go behind after Khalaili's early strike but Igor Paixao levelled proceedings on the rebound.  A brace from Mason Greenwood was enough to see the away side clinch all three points before a late fight-back saw De Zerbi's men live on the edge. After two ruled-out efforts late on, OM came through unscathed to clinch all three points. 

It was a disastrous start for Roberto De Zerbi's men, who failed to close down Anan Khalaili whose low strike from range easily beat Rulli at the left post and sent the home fans into raptures (4'). Immediately Greenwood found some space inside the Belgian box after driving through several players, but his strike was blocked by Christian Burgess. Whilst USG looked dangerous on the counter-attack, OM would grab their equalising goal after some clever inter-play between Matt O'Riley, Igor Paixao, and Arthur Vermeeren saw Aubameyang have a strike at goal from close range. Kjel Sherpen would spill the strike but Paixao was on hand to put Les Olympiens level (14'). If OM were happy to keep the ball and find their rhythm, USG were impatient to try to pick up on any loss of focus from De Zerbi's men. A mazy run from Timothy Weah ended in a strike which whistled past Scherpen's right post.

Just as Union Saint-Gilloise were disrupting OM's passing rhythm, a counter-attacking move saw Mason Greenwood burst into the opposition half. The Englishman out-run Burgess before playing a one-two with Aubameyang and managed to find the space to finish past Scherpen and get OM ahead just before the end of the first half (40'). 

Roberto De Zerbi would decide to replace Timothy Weah with captain Leonardo Balerdi for the second period, which saw a lull in proceedings before Les Olympiens would further press home their advantage. Aubameyang's clever flick found Matt O'Riley and the Dane's first-time ball was weighted to perfection, as Greenwood latched on, drove inside, and completed a fine finish to grab OM's third for the evening (57').

OM live on the edge

Sofiane Boufal entered play for the hosts as a mistake from Balerdi handed the Moroccan a chance on a silver platter, but his strike on the pivot was directed straight into the arms of Rulli. It was a mistake from OM's Argentine keeper which saw USG get right back into the contest, flapping a cross from the left side before Anan Khalaili struck first time into the back of the net (70'). There were emphatic scenes in the home end as Mac Allister thought he slotted USG to an equaliser, but VAR would intervene for an extremely marginal offside call on the Argentine. OM collapsed mentally, retreating back into a block and giving up time and space for the USG to pile on the pressure in the final ten minutes.

Promise Akinpelu was played one-on-one with Rulli after Boufal's through pass, and USG thought they equalised once again when he slotted home - it was once again ruled out for offside to the relief of OM's travelling contingent. Rulli was on hand to save in injury time from Akinpelu's header at the far post, before the final whistle gave relief to an OM side that will be wondering how they got out of that one unscathed.  

THE STAT: 

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has four assists in the UEFA Champions League this season - the only player with more in a single campaign aged 35+ is Ryan Giggs in 2010-11 for Manchester United (5).

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