Nwaneri scores on Marseille debut as Lens lose Ligue 1 top spot

Ethan Nwaneri struck 13 minutes into his Marseille debut after joining on loan from Arsenal to help his new club to a 3-1 win over high-flying Lens in Ligue 1 on Saturday.

Amine Gouiri’s deflected effort put Marseille ahead early at the Velodrome and 18-year-old Nwaneri soon doubled the lead.

The England under-21 international gathered the ball just inside his own half and advanced unchallenged towards the edge of the Lens box, shifting inside onto his left foot and sweeping home from 20 yards.

Gouiri netted again on 75 minutes to all but seal victory, tapping in a cross from Timothy Weah, before Lens grabbed a consolation through substitute Rayan Fofana.

“The new signings have settled in well – you could feel it. We wanted to climb back up the table and put in a good performance, and that’s what we did,” Gouiri told reporters.

Arsenal’s Nwaneri to join Marseille

Nwaneri joined Marseille on Friday until the end of the season after struggling for minutes for Arsenal this term following a breakthrough 2024-25 campaign, in which he scored nine times and earned a new five-year deal with the Gunners.

Roberto De Zerbi left out the league’s top scorer Mason Greenwood for the visit of Lens, in a bid to keep him fresh for Wednesday’s vital Champions League trip to Club Brugge.

Instead, he thrust Nwaneri straight into the team along with fellow new signing Quinten Timber, the twin brother of Arsenal defender Jurrien, against a side who had won eight in a row and 11 of their past 12 games to mount an unexpected title challenge alongside Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).

The Star