Olympique de Marseille climbed on Saturday to the top of Ligue 1 2025-26 with a 3-0 victory at Metz, as a result of which coach Roberto de Zerbi ran over the shape of his side after four straight victories.
Victory moved Marseille on 15 points, before Champion Paris Saint-Germain and surprise packages Lyon on target difference, with the last two still playing this weekend.
Rockbodem Metz parked the bus in the first half, but Marseille poured forward after the break with the Brazilian Dynamo Igor Paixao who broke the impasse at 51 minutes, while Matt O’RiLeyy at 69 minutes and Amine Gouiri two minutes after the three points.
«These are the kind of competitions that we lost last year, we have grown up and the team is now much stronger,» said the Zerbi.
«I am very happy. This is my best period since I took over Marseille,» the Italian coach, who came to Brighton in June 2024 and led Marseille to second place last season, added.
Marseille had a rocky start to the season with a dressing room fight after an opening day slump, in which the road was cleared for star midfielder Adrien Rabiot to be transferred before he came to AC Milan.
The Zerbi described the argument between rabiot and English winger Jonathan Rowe, who moved to Bologna, as a barren fight.
Before the romp on Saturday above the bottom Metz, Marseille Ajax defeated 4-0 in the Champions League after victories over PSG and Strasbourg in Ligue 1.
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Marseille, which last won the title in 2010, also briefly climbed in the top last Friday after the 2-1 come-Van-Behind victory in Strasbourg.
In the meantime, Abdallah Sima scored with almost the last kick of the game to give 10-man Lens a 2-1 victory at Auxerre and the Noorderlingen to the fourth.
Lens took an early lead in the Stade de l’Abbe-deschamps through former Crystal Palace Vooruit Odsonne Edouard.
Francisco Sierralta equalized for the humble host just after the hour, and when the Center-Back Piere-Immaelo Ganiou was sent away with 17 minutes to play, the hope of Lens looked slim.
But Sima had the final say.
In the other game of the day, Brest and Nantes played a scoreless draw.
PSG, which has won Ligue 1 for the past four years, travels to Lille on Sunday, while Olympique Lyonnais is housing Toulouse, with either able to take over the top position if they avoid the defeat.
Published on October 5, 2025
