Mason Greenwood's French renaissance continues after the former Manchester United forward bagged a brace in under a minute for new club Marseille.
The 22-year-old has now netted five goals in three appearances since switching Old Trafford for Stade Velodrome in July for a reported £19.8million fee.
Greenwood opened the scoring between Marseille and Toulouse in the 16th minute, before rapidly adding another in under 60 seconds.
The former United Academy product now shares the same goal tally in the first three games of a Ligue 1 season as another Mancunian – but one who played for the blue half of Manchester.
Greenwood matches Mario Balotelli's goalscoring record at the same point of the season after the former Manchester City player signed for Nice in 2016.
He'll be hoping to match the Italian's prowess in front of French goals, too, after he scored 33 times in 66 Ligue 1 appearances, between 2016 and 2019.
Meanwhile, Saturday's match between traveling Marseille and Toulouse ended 3-1 at the host's Stadium Municipal.
Brazilian forward Luis Henrique provided the assists for both Greenwood goals with Marseille's third coming by way of an own goal from Toulouse center-back, Charlie Cresswell.
The hosts scored a consolation late into the second half, however, with Gabon striker Shavy Babicka slotting neatly past Marseille keeper, Geronimo Rulli.
Marseille manager Roberto De Zerbi has a player in rich form in Greenwood, who scored twice against Brest on his debut for the Ligue 1 club earlier in August, and once against Reims just last week.
Greenwood will be looking to repay the faith Les Olympiens have shown in him, after leaving Manchester before his career ever truly got going.
The forward started his professional career at Old Trafford following much hype around his talent but was suspended in January 2022 following allegations of attempted rape and sexual assault.
Prosecutors, however, dropped the charges in February 2023, allowing Greenwood to restart his career. He did so by spending last season on loan in Spain for Getafe, where he scored eight goals in 33 La Liga appearances.
'We had a good first half, scoring two goals,' Marseille's new head coach, Roberto De Zerbi, told reporters after the match.
'It gave us an advantage to have an extra player and we relied on our strength in one-on-ones, particularly Greenwood, to score the brace.
'We still need to improve the speed and mentality of this team. We shouldn't have conceded the goal, should have won 3-0.'
Marseille now sits seven points atop Ligue 1 level with Nantes, who won 3-1 away at Montpellier on Saturday.
The 22-year-old has now netted five goals in three appearances since switching Old Trafford for Stade Velodrome in July for a reported £19.8million fee.
Greenwood opened the scoring between Marseille and Toulouse in the 16th minute, before rapidly adding another in under 60 seconds.
The former United Academy product now shares the same goal tally in the first three games of a Ligue 1 season as another Mancunian – but one who played for the blue half of Manchester.
Greenwood matches Mario Balotelli's goalscoring record at the same point of the season after the former Manchester City player signed for Nice in 2016.
He'll be hoping to match the Italian's prowess in front of French goals, too, after he scored 33 times in 66 Ligue 1 appearances, between 2016 and 2019.
Meanwhile, Saturday's match between traveling Marseille and Toulouse ended 3-1 at the host's Stadium Municipal.
Brazilian forward Luis Henrique provided the assists for both Greenwood goals with Marseille's third coming by way of an own goal from Toulouse center-back, Charlie Cresswell.
The hosts scored a consolation late into the second half, however, with Gabon striker Shavy Babicka slotting neatly past Marseille keeper, Geronimo Rulli.
Marseille manager Roberto De Zerbi has a player in rich form in Greenwood, who scored twice against Brest on his debut for the Ligue 1 club earlier in August, and once against Reims just last week.
Greenwood will be looking to repay the faith Les Olympiens have shown in him, after leaving Manchester before his career ever truly got going.
The forward started his professional career at Old Trafford following much hype around his talent but was suspended in January 2022 following allegations of attempted rape and sexual assault.
Prosecutors, however, dropped the charges in February 2023, allowing Greenwood to restart his career. He did so by spending last season on loan in Spain for Getafe, where he scored eight goals in 33 La Liga appearances.
'We had a good first half, scoring two goals,' Marseille's new head coach, Roberto De Zerbi, told reporters after the match.
'It gave us an advantage to have an extra player and we relied on our strength in one-on-ones, particularly Greenwood, to score the brace.
'We still need to improve the speed and mentality of this team. We shouldn't have conceded the goal, should have won 3-0.'
Marseille now sits seven points atop Ligue 1 level with Nantes, who won 3-1 away at Montpellier on Saturday.
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SportsTranscript
00:00Mason Greenwood's French renaissance continues after the former Manchester United forward
00:09bagged a brace in under a minute for new club Marseille. Greenwood opened the scoring between
00:14Marseille and Toulouse in the 16th minute before rapidly adding another in under 60 seconds.
00:20Meanwhile, Saturday's match between travelling Marseille and Toulouse ended 3-1 at the host
00:25stadium Municipal. Brazilian forward Luis Enrique provided the assists for both Greenwood goals
00:31with Marseille's third coming by way of an own goal from Toulouse centre-back, Charlie Cresswell.
00:36The hosts scored a consolation late into the second half, however,
00:40with Gabon striker Shaby Babica slotting neatly past Marseille keeper, Geronimo Rulli.