Three things we learned this week in Ligue 1
March 23rd, 2025by Brendán MacFarlane
Batshuayi the hero as Marseille move three points ahead at the topOlympique de Marseille stretched their lead at the top of the Ligue 1 standings on Sunday afternoon, with a two-one victory over Lille in front of a record crowd at the Stade Vélodrome.
The result also increased the club's winning run at home to nine games. Marcelo Bielsa's side came from behind to win what would be their last match of 2025, and the victory pushes them two points ahead of second-placed Lyon, as well as allowing them to pick up the informal title of ' Champion d'Automne ' (Autumn Champions).
Although there have been both ups and downs so far in the Bielsa era, the contrast between Les Marseillais' fortunes this season and last has given France's top division another enthralling dimension, as it is worth remembering that at this time last year OM were in sixth position, level on points with seventh place Reims. Much has since changed at the Vélodrome, with bigger crowds, better football and regular wins giving the league leaders and their passionate support a lot more to smile.
A slight tactical change saw the home side start with Belgian international Michy Batshuayi, who moved to Marseille from Standard de Liège in the summer, beginning the match behind the lone centre-forward André-Pierre Gignac. The Belgian has spoken recently of his desire to start matches for his new side, so the unexplained absence from the starting line-up and Matchday squad of Dimitri Payet, a player who has been so influential for OM this season, gave the attacker the perfect opportunity to proves his worth on his first Ligue 1 start.
Bielsa explained after the game that Payet hadn't been dropped because of a 'discipline issue', but the Argentine's decision to omit one of his most important players from his squad before a game of such importance to the potential title race would have caused ,to say the least, a few raised eyebrows on the street of Marseille. The French footballing press however has learned since Bielsa's arrival that sometimes it is best to expect the unexpected when it comes to following 'El Loco's' unique way of dealing with things in his role as the club's coach.
As always, the home side attempted to dominate proceedings straight from kick-off, hoping to pressurize their visitors from the North, who are often regarded as a team that prefers to sit deep and invite teams onto them. In the early stages of the match both Batshuayi and Gignac had chances to open the scoring, but they couldn't work Vincent Enyeama in the LOSC goal.
Just after the half-hour mark, Marseille opened the scoring in the most fortunate of fashions, when Nolan Roux inadvertently diverted former Lille man Florian Thauvin's
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