Olympique Marseille eased past Ligue 2 side ESTAC Troyes today in the 3rd round of the Coupe de la Ligue, with a comfortable 3-0 victory.
Marseille were the better team throughout the match and should of been in front within 5 minutes after striker Sam Vokes was put through on goal from midfield to find himself one on one with Troyes goalkeeper Yehvann Diouf. However, Vokes was only able to find the outside of the post as he passed the ball aimed towards the corner of the net.
Marseille manager Chris Ball decided to rest a few of his first team regulars to give playing time to some of his squad players and at times the team looked slightly disjointed, as it took Marseille 68 minutes to finally break the deadlock.
The first goal came from Bafetimbi Gomis, recently returned from injury. The ball played over the top of the Troyes defence by midefielder Dale Stephens was expertly controlled by Sam Vokes, who unselfishly passed to his strike partner to score into an open goal after the Troyes goalkeeper came rushing out.
Vokes then bagged his first competitive goal for Marseille since joining for more than £11 million in the Summer with a very similar goal to the one he had set up for Gomis earlier on. Vokes bagged his second goal only a minute later to wrap up the game for Marseille as substitute Leya Iseka raced down the right wing, before crossing to an unmarked Vokes inside the box who coolly slotted past the goalkeeper with a first time strike.
Marseille looked comfortable in a game that they were heavy favourites to win. Manager Chris Ball was asked after the game if he felt his team could win the competition, to which he responded "All the time we are in it, we have as good a chance as anyone. I'm pleased to say that we played very well today with a number of our squad players getting an opportunity to come in and show what they can offer. We're glad to be in the draw for the next round".
