Marseille's five-goal burst at Angers is a release, not a revival

It was a result that pulled Bruno Genesio's side away from the relegation play-off spot, at least for now, and it arrived with a fluency in front of goal that had been missing for weeks. But the scoreline deserves a second look before anyone calls it a turning point.

Angers took the lead through Lilian Rao-Lisoa after 14 minutes, and for a while the afternoon had the shape of another awkward away day. Marseille replied before half-time through Himad Abdelli and Nouhoum Kamissoko, then Amine Gouiri scored his fifth league goal of the season after his penalty was saved by Anthony Lopes. Amine El Ouazzani pulled one back from the spot for Angers on 75 minutes, but late goals from Amine Harit and Igor Paixao sealed the win.

The raw data tells a story of control. Marseille had 58 per cent possession, 21 shots to Angers' 11, eight on target to three, and five big chances to two. Their expected goals figure was 2.74 against Angers' 2.02. They also completed 273 passes in the opposition half, well above their average of 186.2 across earlier matches this season in all competitions, and their 21 shots were nearly double their previous average of 11.0. Their xG of 2.74 was more than double their earlier average of 1.35, and their open-play xG of 1.65 was up on an average of 1.04.

That is a side creating far more than it had been. The goals scored minus expected goals figure of 2.26, against an average of 0.0 in earlier matches, suggests some finishing above the expected level, but the volume of chances was real. The question is what it means against an opponent that had just been beaten 5-1 at Brest and looked shaken from the start.

Marseille's league record under Genesio this season stands at three wins, no draws and four defeats from seven matches, a return of 1.29 points per game. For context, the last time the club had a genuinely settled league campaign was under Rudi Garcia in 2017/2018, when they took 2.03 points per game across 38 matches with 22 wins, 11 draws and five defeats. That is the standard the current side is being measured against, fairly or not, and the gap is wide.

The summer brought significant change. Tochukwu Nnadi, Himad Abdelli, Quinten Timber, Facundo Medina, Hamed Traore and Ethan Nwaneri arrived. Quinten Timber, Bilal Nadir, Darryl Bakola, Ismael Kone, Leonardo Balerdi and Facundo Medina departed. That is a lot of turnover for any squad, and it helps explain why the team has looked short of cohesion in the early weeks. The Europa League has been no kinder, with defeats to Besiktas and Olympiacos leaving them without a point in that competition.

Was this a genuine step forward or a favourable matchup against a reeling opponent? The honest answer is that one afternoon cannot settle it. The attacking output was a clear improvement on what came before, and the margin of victory was deserved on the balance of play.

For now, the win is best understood as a pressure release. It ends a difficult stretch, lifts Marseille away from the bottom three, and gives Genesio something to build on. But three wins in seven league matches is not a foundation, and the gap to the standards of the club's last successful era remains the real story of the season so far.