Mason Greenwood scored seven goals in 10 Ligue 1 appearances as Marseille defeated Nantes 2-1.

Former Premier League players made their presence felt at Nantes on Sunday night as Neal Maupay and Mason Greenwood scored to lead Marseille to a 2-1 victory over their rivals.

Maupay signed a season-long loan deal from Everton this summer, along with former Manchester United striker Greenwood.

Marseille recovered from the 3-0 defeat against leader Paris Saint-Germain last weekend and rose to second place, six points behind the reigning champions.

Former Brighton and Everton striker Maupay opened the scoring before Nantes equalised.

Greenwood was criticized for a below-par performance against PSG and made amends with a superb second-half winner.

Mason Greenwood scored as Marseille beat Nantes to move into second place in Ligue 1.

Receiving the ball from Luis Henrique, Greenwood dummyed a defender and then fired a low shot past goalkeeper Alban Lafont from just outside the area.

It was the 23-year-old’s seventh goal in 10 league games since his transfer to Marseille and marked a great start to life in France.

Coach Roberto De Zerbi, who transferred from Brighton to Marseille after two seasons on duty, said, “It was a difficult week, we suffered after the defeat against Paris.” ‘And that response was very important.’

Greenwood transferred from United to Marseille for £30 million in July.

He has not played for the Premier League club since January 2022. He was arrested later that month on suspicion of attempted rape, assault and coercive behavior.

All charges, which Greenwood denied, were dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service in February 2023 after “key witnesses receded and new material came to light”.

Neal Maupay also got on the scoresheet as the visitors took a big three points.

Despite the case against him being dropped, there was vocal opposition to his signing from some sections of the Marseille fan base, with a group of fans launching a ‘#GreenwoodNotWelcome’ campaign when he first contacted the club.

Marseille mayor Benoit Payan also opposed the move.