Following Monaco’s draw earlier in the evening, Roberto de Zerbi’s men knew that a win would move them up to second place, and the home side showed their intent right from the very start.
After a spell of possession, Amine Gouiri’s mishit shot fell into the path of Mason Greenwood, who volleyed onto the crossbar.
However, the former Manchester United forward didn’t have to wait long for his next opportunity as Ulisses Garcia was tripped in the box, allowing Greenwood to bury his spot-kick to give Les Phoceens an early lead.
After establishing an advantage, the hosts failed to build on that momentum and struggled to threaten a second goal in the first period.
They did, however, restrict Montpellier to just one shot off-target in the opening 45 minutes and an xG of 0.06. Adrien Rabiot saw a header comfortably gathered by Benjamin Lecomte in an otherwise quiet close to the end of the half.
Both sides continued their struggles following the restart, as Marseille dominated possession but failed to create clear-cut chances, as Pierre-Emile Højbjerg connected with a corner but couldn’t steer his diving header on target.
It was one-way traffic as Les Olympiens continued to probe, and the second goal did finally arrive on the hour mark. Quentin Merlin towered in the box to head goalwards, yet the ball came off the crossbar and bounced on the line where Gouiri was on hand to scramble it home.
Two very quickly became three, and the points were wrapped up when Michael Murillo picked out Greenwood in the box for the league’s second-highest scorer this season to sweep home his 18th of the season.
With relegation looming, the Montpellier players were down and out, and De Zerbi’s men added salt to the wounds with a slick goal as Jonathan Rowe flicked in at the near post from Garcia’s cross. Lucas Mincarelli struck a late consolation goal for the visitors, but the hosts restored their four-goal advantage in the 90th minute through Rabiot.
The win boosts Marseille’s chances of a guaranteed place in next year’s UEFA Champions League, while Montpellier will drop to Ligue 2 after 16 years in the French top flight.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Mason Greenwood (Marseille)