Bayer Leverkusen 0-1 Marseille: Gouiri's late stunner snatches victory

Amine Gouiri proved to be Marseille's matchwinner as his 77th-minute stunner earned the Ligue 1 giants a 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League.

Leverkusen had made a perfect start in Europe this season, with Marseille losing their first three matches, but Gouiri's late heroics snatched all three points at the BayArena.

Marseille started brightly and saw Gouiri spurn a golden chance early on, with Mark Flekken producing a superb save to deny the Algerian striker in the seventh minute.

Leverkusen failed to make the most of their possession in the first half, but Miguel Gutiérrez saw his deflected effort crash against the woodwork on the stroke of half-time.

Robert Andrich tested Jeffrey de Lange with a strike from range in the second half, though the Marseille goalkeeper was equal to the shot, while Geoffrey Kondogbia saw a well-hit volley just evade the top-left corner.

Gouiri then stepped up for the visitors, beating Andrich on the halfway line before dribbling to the edge of the box, where he cut inside Edmond Tapsoba and expertly curled into the net.

Leverkusen threw everything they had at an equaliser and went close with the last kick of the game, but Patrik Schick's header from a free-kick was easily gathered by De Lange in the 95th minute.

Gouiri steps up again for Marseille

It was not the thrilling matchup many would have hoped for, with Leverkusen accumulating just 0.91 expected goals (xG) from 10 shots to Marseille's 0.88 from eight attempts, but Bruno Genesio's side finally got in the win column in this season's Europa League.

Marseille's result saw them end a five-match losing run in major European competition, and they did so in unexpected circumstances as Leverkusen lost at home in the Europa League after going unbeaten in their previous 10 such matches (W7 D3).

Gouiri was the man to step up to the plate once again for Marseille, who had scored just once in their previous three Europa League matches after struggling to replace the attacking prowess of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mason Greenwood in the summer.

Nevertheless, Gouiri directly contributed to his fifth goal in as many games across all competitions for Marseille, netting three times and providing two assists during this run.

With home games against Levski and Celta Vigo next up for Marseille in the competition, they will be hoping to build on this away victory to boost their chances of at least finishing in the play-off places.