Marseille came from behind to beat Lyon 3-2 away from home after being reduced to 10 men early in the match on Sunday courtesy of a 95th-minute winner by Jonathan Rowe. The result sent Roberto De Zerbi’s resurgent side second in Ligue 1, level on 13 points with Paris Saint-Germain but with an inferior goal difference. Ex-Marseille defender Duje Caleta-Car opened the scoring for Lyon in a chaotic ‘Olympico’ derby, marked by late goals and an early red card. Pol Lirola levelled for Marseille, before Ulisses Garcia sent them ahead with under 10 minutes remaining.

Rayan Cherki looked to have claimed a point for Lyon in the third minute of added time only for Rowe to piledrive a winner for Marseille from the edge of the box two minutes later.

The match lived up to its feisty billing as one of France’s most intense rivalries with Marseille’s Leonardo Balerdi picking up a yellow card inside 30 seconds for a heavy challenge on Corentin Tolisso.

The Marseille captain then got his marching orders inside five minutes for a second bookable offence when he hauled down Alexandre Lacazette.

“He made a mistake and he knows it,” said De Zerbi. “But we dedicate this victory to him and he remains our captain.

“In this squad, when someone is in difficulty, we don’t abandon him.”

A man to the good, Lyon dominated but failed to translate this onto the scoresheet.

First-half controversy then continued when deep in added time, Lyon were awarded a penalty for handball after a lengthy VAR review.

Lacazette’s effort from 12 yards was repelled by Geronimo Rulli and the Lyon captain, under intense pressure from the following-in defence, could only blaze the rebound well over the crossbar.

Caleta-Car powered in a 53-minute header following excellent work by Clinton Mata to win the ball and put in a pinpoint cross on the right flank.

But Marseille, despite having subbed off attackers Amine Harit and Elye Wahi, hit back through substitute defender Lirola in the 69th minute when he calmly lifted a one-on-one finish over Lucas Perri.

The shock turnaround continued in the 82nd minute when another replacement defender in Garcia strode onto Lirola’s cross and bounced a first-time finish over the goalkeeper and into the far corner.

The drama was not finished, however, as Cherki bundled in a cross at the near post to seemingly ensure Pierre Sage’s side would share the spoils.

Rowe then stole the show for Marseille as he drove forward from the left wing, beat two defenders and thrashed the ball across Perri and inside the far post.

Monaco keep pace

Monaco saw off a battling Le Havre 3-1 to preserve their unbeaten record.

The Principality side backed up their impressive midweek victory in the Champions League against Barcelona by winning their fourth game in five league outings this term.

Strikes in quick succession midway through the second half by Eliesse Ben Seghir and Folarin Balogun ensured Monaco claimed all three points, after Le Havre’s Daler Kuzyaev had cancelled out Jordan Teze’s early opener.

“I’m very pleased with the win, even if it wasn’t the best game of the season,” said Monaco coach Adi Huetter.

Dutch right-back Teze gave the home side the lead inside 10 minutes, before Kuzyaev got the equaliser with an outside-of-the-foot finish that crept into the far corner.

Rested after his exploits midweek, rising star Ben Seghir restored Monaco’s lead with a moment of individual inspiration in the 66th minute.

Receiving the ball 25 yards from goal, he advanced on the packed defence and shaped the ball beyond the goalkeeper with his right foot from 25 yards.

Balogun wrapped up the points four minutes later when he swept home from George Ilenikhena’s pass.

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.

Marseille have signed striker Mason Greenwood from Manchester United, the Ligue 1 side announced on Thursday, despite the objection of some of the French club’s fans. The 22-year-old, who has played once for England, was suspended in January 2022 by Manchester United following allegations of attempted rape and sexual assault but prosecutors dropped charges in February 2023. He spent last season on loan at Getafe in La Liga. “Olympique de Marseille are delighted to announce the signing of Mason Greenwood from Manchester United. The 22-year-old striker has signed for the club following a successful medical,” said the French club on their website.

Marseille made no mention of the allegations in their statement. They called Greenwood “a precocious talent” and an “English nugget”.

The southern club, eighth in Ligue 1 last season, said their new striker will wear the number 10 shirt but did not specify the length of his contract or mention any fee to Manchester United.

However the deal is reported to be worth an estimated 30 million euros ($32.7m).

“We wish Mason all the best in his future career,” said United on their website.

Before the transfer became official, Marseille’s left-wing mayor Benoit Payan told French media: “I don’t want my club to be covered by shame.”

Greenwood has always denied the allegations.

“I did not do the things I was accused of, and in February I was cleared of all charges,” he said when he joined Getafe.

“However, I fully accept I made mistakes in my relationship.”

Greenwood made his debut for Manchester United aged 17 years and 156 days in the Champions League in 2019 and his Premier League debut four days later. He made his debut for England in September 2020.

The forward made 129 appearances and scored 35 goals for United but had not played for the Premier League club since January 2022.

Greenwood scored 10 goals in 36 games for Getafe last season.

His arrival in Marseille comes the day after the official departure of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the Gabon international who was Marseille’s top scorer last season.

Marseille face Sunderland in a pre-season friendly on August 3 in Bradford, where Greenwood was born.

If he plays it could be his first game in England since he was arrested in January 2022 following allegations made against him.