Marseille put a week of turmoil behind them as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice in a 5-2 win over Paris FC on Saturday before coach Roberto De Zerbi opened up the possibility of bringing banished star Adrien Rabiot back into the fold.
Aubameyang won a penalty, which was converted by Mason Greenwood, before the Gabon striker doubled Marseille’s lead just past the midway point in the first half at the Velodrome.
Newly promoted Paris FC hit back to draw level with goals by Ilan Kebbal and Moses Simon, only for Aubameyang to restore Marseille’s lead before Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and youngster Robinio Vaz added further goals late on.
Marseille was plunged into crisis last weekend when a fight broke out between star player Adrien Rabiot and English winger Jonathan Rowe in the dressing room at the end of the 1-0 opening-round defeat at Rennes.
France midfielder Rabiot was later put up for sale, while Marseille sought to accelerate plans to move on Rowe after the bust-up, which club president Pablo Longoria described as “extremely violent”.
“He made a mistake, but I hope there is a chance we can put things back together. I am not going to close the door on anyone,” De Zerbi said when asked if he would like Rabiot to stay.
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“It is not me who decides, but I am willing to offer my hand to anyone, and if I can help in any way to resolve things, I am ready to do whatever it takes.”
For now, Rabiot is on the market with just over a week of the transfer window left, and last season’s Ligue 1 runners-up took to the field without him against the team from the capital.
The 36-year-old Aubameyang, who is back in Marseille for a second spell after spending the last campaign in Saudi Arabia, hit the post early on and then won a penalty after being brought down by Paris FC’s Brazilian centre-back Otavio.
Greenwood, who scored 21 goals in Ligue 1 last season, converted from the spot.
The former Manchester United man then set up the second as his corner was turned in by Aubameyang, but Marseille looked fragile at the back and gifted the visitors a quick route back into the contest.
Winger Kebbal, who was born in Marseille, brought it back to 2-1 before the half-hour and produced a brilliant pass to set up Nigeria winger Simon for the equaliser on 58 minutes.
With Rabiot absent, De Zerbi looked to some of his youngsters to make an impact off the bench, and Bilal Nadir helped make the goal that Aubameyang scored to restore the hosts’ lead on 73 minutes.
Nadir then set up Hojbjerg’s thumping long-range strike to make it 4-2 before Greenwood squandered a second penalty of the day by firing wide from the spot after Vaz had been fouled.
The 18-year-old Vaz then completed the scoring in stoppage time, as Paris FC — owned by the mega-rich Arnault family — suffered a second loss in as many games since winning promotion.
“I don’t think we played well, but the explanation for that is that it has been a very difficult last week and the squad is made up of human beings, not robots,” De Zerbi added.
Elsewhere, Lyon continued their good start to the campaign after a turbulent summer beset by financial problems.
Paulo Fonseca’s team followed a 1-0 opening-day victory at Lens by beating Metz 3-0 at home with Malick Fofana, Corentin Tolisso, and new Czech signing Adam Karabec all on target.
Saturday’s other game saw Nice get their first points by winning 3-1 at home to Auxerre.
Jeremie Boga’s opener for the hosts was cancelled out by Lassine Sinayoko, only for a Clement Akpa own goal to restore Nice’s advantage.
Auxerre goalkeeper Donovan Leon was sent off in first-half stoppage time, and substitute Terem Moffi then made sure of the win for Nice on 76 minutes.
European champions Paris Saint-Germain made it two wins from two to start the season by beating Angers 1-0 on Friday, thanks to a solitary Fabian Ruiz goal
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