PLAYER RATINGS | Marseille 5-1 Montpellier: Greenwood brace helps five-star Olympiens reclaim second spot | OneFootball

19/04/2025, Ligue 1 McDonald’s Matchday 30

Roberto De Zerbi’s men get back to winning ways and reclaim second spot in the Ligue 1 McDondald’s table after goals from Mason Greenwood, Amine Gouiri, Jonathan Rowe and Adrien Rabiot late on.

THE MATCH

The tension was palpable in Marseille before kick-off, but it didn’t stop Marseille fans from getting behind their team – some were seen letting off flares around three hours before kick-off. Yet with great backing comes great pressure, the noise around the club in the week reaffirmed the objective for Les Olympiens: Champions League qualification is needed at all costs. Les Olympiens did more than enough to reclaim their second spot on Saturday evening against a hapless Montpellier outfit.

It was imperative that OM got off to a positive start at the Vélodrome, and a perfect opportunity came their way shortly after a good bit of combination between Rabiot and Rangier saw Greenwood almost flick home the opener, which ended up rattling the crossbar. Ulisses Garcia would then make a driving run into the box from the left side, and he drew a clear foul to win a penalty for his side. It was Greenwood who stepped up and converted confidently to Lecomte’s left to hand Les Olympiens a one goal advantage (6′).

The game calmed down, as Montpellier dropped into a defensive line, putting the emphasis on OM to find the answers to try and double their lead. Greenwood was involved once again to drive into the box and send a shot flying at the near post, but Lecomte would be second to it to parry away to safety. Rabiot was next with a header from near the penalty spot which was on target but couldn’t challenge Lecomte enough. Montpellier had the rare burst forward, one of which would see Junior Ndiaye try and let off a shot from distance which was blocked by Højbjerg.

The game settled into the same pattern in the early periods of the first half, but Les Olympiens managed to double their lead by the hour-mark, much to the relief of the Stade Velodrome faithful. Quentin Merlin was found at the back post with a floated cross, and his header unbelievably hit the crossbar, the back of the goalkeeper, and then two Montpellier defenders before Gouiri was able to stab the ball home on the rebound (60′). Mason Greenwood would then reappear with his deadly finishing instinct, receiving the ball in the box and then thrashing a low strike past Lecomte to effectively kill off the contest with half hour to play (66′) with his 18th goal of the season. It got even better for Les Olympiens, as Ulisses Garcia capped off a great performance with a well-timed ball to the near post for Jonathan Rowe to flick into the back of the net flamboyantly (73′). Adrien Rabiot then put some shine on the result after a searching through ball from Ismaël Bennacer put the France international one-on-one with Lecomte. He had no trouble finding the back of the net with a low driven strike (89′).

OLYMPIQUE DE MARSEILLE PLAYER RATINGS

Geronimo Rulli – 5

Michael Amir Murillo – 4

Geoffrey Kondogbia – 5

Ulisses Garcia – 7

The Swiss provided a dangerous run into the box led to winning a penalty for the hosts in the first half which was duly dispatched by Greenwood. Played high up the pitch but continued his good work defensively from his performance at Monaco. Did well in periods of possession, perhaps decision making a bit slow in build-up – but an overall encouraging performance on his second match since returning from injury.

Valentin Rongier – 4

Quentin Merlin – 5

Mason Greenwood – 7

A busy start to the game when the Englishman’s flick-on rattled the crossbar in the opening minutes, and then did well to confidently dispatch the penalty to put his side in front. But from then on he quietened down for the rest of the first half. Yet he showed his deadly finishing ability in the second when he was fed the ball in the box and thrashed home to put OM three ahead and effectively kill off the game.

Adrien Rabiot – 6

Amine Gouiri – 5

Luis Henrique – 4

MONTPELLIER PLAYER RATINGS

Lecomte – 4

Saint Luce – 4

Mincarelli – 5

Omeragic – 3

Mouanga – 4

Ndollo Bille – 4

Ndiaye – 5

Nzingoula – 4

Ferriu – 4

Pays – 4

Coulibaly – 5GFFN | George Boxall – Reporting from Stade Vélodrome, Marseille.