PARIS (AP) — Elye Wahi scored inside the first minute against his former club as third-place Marseille won 5-0 at Montpellier to stay three points behind Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco at the top of the French league.
The striker pounced after just 45 seconds with a close-range finish after Jonathan Rowe headed down Mason Greenwood’s cross to him.
Wahi clasped his hands together to show he was not celebrating in front of his former fans. He made his name at Montpellier with 32 league goals from 2020-23 before joining Lens for a move for 35 million euros ($38 million).
The move to Lens did not work out, however, and the 21-year-old Wahi joined Marseille in the offseason to partner the English striker Greenwood in a slick-looking attack.
Marseille added late first-half goals through midfielders Amine Harit and Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg, whose first goal for the club was set up by Greenwood.
Greenwood’s goal in the 58th was the pick of the game.
He beat the left back with a neat step-over on the right edge of the penalty area before arrowing the ball expertly into the bottom left.
Shortly after defender Stefan Dzodic was shown a straight red card for a crude foul on Harit, Marseille scored again through Brazilian winger Luis Henrique in the 73rd.
Paris Saint-Germain tops the league on goal difference from Monaco, with both sides unbeaten and on 20 points from eight rounds.
Marseille warmed up perfectly for next Sunday’s home game against bitter rival PSG at Stade Velodrome.
Elsewhere, Lyon made it five straight wins in all competitions with a dominant 4-0 victory at Le Havre to move up to seventh place in the French league.
Brazilian left back Abner Vinicius put Lyon ahead in the 31st when he followed up a clearance by Le Havre’s defense.
Winger Malick Fofana, veteran striker Alexandre Lacazette and winger Saïd Benrahma added second-half goals as Lyon made it 14 goals in its last five games.
Sixth-place Reims lost 2-1 at Auxerre, with central defender Sinaly Diomandé and midfielder Hamed Traoré netting for the home side before Japan winger Keito Nakamura pulled a goal back in stoppage time.
Eighth-place Nice rallied to draw 1-1 at Nantes with forward Evann Guessand equalizing in the 72nd minute, five minutes after Matthis Abline put Nantes ahead. In the corresponding game last season, a Nantes fan was stabbed and killed before the match following a fight near the train station in the evening.
Toulouse drew 1-1 with Angers in a basement battle, with Norway forward Joshua King equalizing for the home side in the second half following striker Ibrahima Niane’s early goal for Angers.
PSG won 4-2 at home to Strasbourg on Saturday in a match marred by homophobic chanting made by some PSG fans about bitter rival Marseille and its midfielder Adrien Rabiot, a former longstanding PSG player.
Rabiot had a commanding game against Montpellier and home fans will be eager to see how he does against PSG. ___
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