Olympique de Marseille secured their first Champions League win of the season when they came from behind to outclass 10-man Sporting Lisbon 4-1 in an incident-packed Group D encounter at an empty Stade Velodrome on Tuesday.
Sporting made a blistering start to the game, played behind closed doors after crowd trouble marred Marseille’s home game against Eintracht Frankfurt, when Francisco Trincao put them ahead after just 51 seconds with a sublime solo effort.
But Marseille turned the tide in the space of three frantic minutes, with Alexis Sanchez first scoring a freak equaliser when goalkeeper Antonio Adan smashed his clearance against the Chilean before Amine Harit nodded home in the 16th minute for the lead.
Adan’s difficult evening came to a premature end seven minutes later when he was given a red card for handling outside the area, and the hosts made that advantage count instantly as Leonardo Balerdi beat his marker to score from Harit’s corner.
The Portuguese visitors frustrated Marseille after the break before Chancel Mbemba wrapped up the points in the 84th minute when he finished expertly following Sanchez’s initial effort.
Sporting remain top of the group with six points from three games, with Marseille three points behind. Tottenham Hotspur were playing Eintracht later on Tuesday.
