Payet is comeback king for Marseille
DIMITRI PAYET was instrumental as Marseille staged another epic European comeback by beating RB Leipzig last night.
The former West Ham playmaker scored one goal and set up two as Marseille, the 1993 European Cup winners and twice UEFA Cup runners-up, fought back from falling two goals behind in the tie after just two minutes to win 5-3 on aggregate.
In a week of comebacks – some completed, some falling just short – this was a see-sawing, nail-biter of a match.
A stunning opening nine minutes had brought three goals. Leipzig, leading 1-0 from the first leg, picked up an away goal within two minutes when Bruma fired in after a foray down the right from Liverpool-bound Naby Keita.
But four minutes later Leipzig midfielder Stefan Ilsanker put the ball into his own goal from a corner and Payet started a counterattack that was finished by Bouna Sarr to give Marseille a 2-1 lead on the night.
Payet then set up Florian Thauvin seven minutes before the break to put his side ahead in the tie for the first time.
Jean-Kevin Augustin hit back in the 55th minute to leave Leipzig going through on away goals. But Payet scored himself in the 60th minute, receiving a pass from Thauvin before curling the ball into the corner. Hiroki Sakai then added another to make it 5-2 on the night.
RB Salzburg staged their own stunning comeback to beat Lazio 6-5 on aggregate.
Winning 4-2 from the first leg in Rome, Lazio would have felt the job was done when Ciro Immobile scored after 55 minutes. But Munas Dabbur hit back within 60 seconds before three goals in five minutes – starting in the 72nd – from Amadou Haidara, Hee-Chan Hwang and Stefan Lainer gave Salzburg a 4-1 home win.
Fredy Montero scored the only goal as Sporting Lisbon beat Atletico Madrid 1-0 but lost 2-1 on aggregate.