Marseille end winless run

Marseille put an end to a run of four Ligue 1 games without victory with a hard-fought 2-1 win over bottom-club Sochaux.

Marseille put an end to a run of four Ligue 1 games without victory with a hard-fought 2-1 win over bottom-club Sochaux. Andre-Pierre Gignac's second-half penalty was enough to secure all three points for Ellie Baup's men after Emmanuel Mayuka had cancelled out Florian Thauvin's early opener. L'OM move back up to fifth with their first three points gained since an away win at Lorient back in September while defeat for Sochaux leaves them with just one Ligue 1 victory all season and firmly rooted the foot of the table. The lowly visitors were hit by the news that striker Cedric Bakambu had to pull out following injury during the warm-up and Marseille wasted no time in capitalising. Benjamin Mendy beat Roy Contout on the right, with just five minutes played, before the full-back delivered for Thauvin to head beyond Simon Pouplin, adding to his midweek strike against Napoli in the Champions League. Despite dominating possession after falling behind, Sochaux almost found themselves in further trouble with 25 minutes gone. Firstly, Pouplin was called into action and pulled off a magnificent point-blank save from the lively Thauvin before he turned provider, but Alaixys Romao was unable to find the target from the follow-up, blazing over the bar with a volley. With ten minutes left to play in the first half, Marseille had some half-hearted appeals for a spot-tick turned down after Jordan Ayew went down following a Mathieu Peybernes challenge and their solitary goal lead remained at the break. Despite leading the hosts had failed to impress in front of their home supporters and it was Sochaux who made the breakthrough 15 minutes into the second-half. After being picked out on the right corner of the area, Mayuka took a touch before bending a sublime effort beyond Steve Mandanda and into the opposite top corner to silence the Stade Velodrome. Marseille managed to offer a response and Dimitri Payet thought he'd hauled his side back into the game when he converted only for the goal to be ruled out for handball while Ayew forced a solid one-handed save from Pouplin with a powerful effort from the right. With the clock ticking away and just a point seemingly on the cards for Baup's men, the hosts were gifted a perfect opportunity when referee Ruddy Buquet deliberated before pointing at the spot after Peybernes handled inside the area. Gignac took responsibility and fired the ball beyond Pouplin, much to the relief of his manager, for his fifth goal of the season - a strike which claimed all three points for L'OM.