Following PSG’s 1-0 victory over Auxerre on Friday night, only a win for Lens would see them immediately return to the summit. But their plans were torn asunder inside three minutes, as Facundo Medina stung his parent club by picking out Igor Paixão with a long pass, and the Brazilian then fed Gouiri, who wriggled between a couple of players before seeing his shot deflect off Matthieu Udol and beyond visiting goalkeeper Robin Risser.
Understandably confident, Gouiri took aim again not long afterwards, though it was from a more speculative distance, and Risser got down comfortably to deny him.
However, the 21-year-old was soon beaten by a lovely strike on 13 minutes by Marseille's new boy Nwaneri, who showed some raw Hale End class when he advanced with the ball purposefully, before dipping inside Malang Sarr and stroking his effort excellently into Risser’s bottom right-hand corner.
Lens looked stunned at times by the Marseille onslaught, and only managed one real chance before the break, when Odsonne Édouard blazed over after doing all the hard work.
A big improvement was needed, and the Blood and Gold certainly started the second period more brightly than the first, with Adrien Thomasson squandering a golden opportunity within 30 seconds of the restart. However, that didn’t last, with a number of fouls disrupting the flow of the game and preventing Lens from building any real momentum.
Roberto De Zerbi was the first of the two head coaches to turn to his bench, with Mason Greenwood introduced in place of Nwaneri, and it was the other first-half scorer, Gouiri, who doubled his tally for the evening on 75 minutes, turning in Timothy Weah’s inviting cross and surviving a VAR check for offside.
Greenwood’s ball across then narrowly evaded fellow substitute Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for number four, and although Marseille conceded a late consolation courtesy of Rayan Fofana’s assured finish, De Zerbi will have been satisfied overall with his side’s work.
This was the first time that Lens had conceded at least three goals in a game since last April, and they will now look to make amends for this result at home to Le Havre next Friday, with Marseille next in action two days earlier at Club Brugge in a pivotal UEFA Champions League encounter.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Facundo Medina (Marseille)