Marseille 2-0 FC Red Bull Salzburg
- Published
Florian Thauvin opened the scoring for Marseille with his 22nd goal of the season
Dimitri Payet set up both goals as Marseille beat Red Bull Salzburg 2-0 in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final at Stade Velodrome.
The Ligue 1 side have won eight of their nine games at home in this season's competition.
Florian Thauvin headed their opener from ex-West Ham forward Payet's free-kick and Cameroon winger Clinton Njie doubled the lead from a Payet pass.
Fredrik Gulbrandsen hit the post for the Austrian Bundesliga leaders.
Marseille, who have now scored 34 times in this season's competition, were worthy winners but Rudi Garcia's side had some moments of good fortune.
Former Newcastle winger Thauvin appeared to head the ball on to his hand when converting Payet's delivery for his 22nd goal of the campaign.
And Salzburg full-back Stefan Lainer looked to have a valid claim for a penalty turned down with the score at 1-0.
The Austrians had collected four points against Marseille in the group stage, including a goalless draw in France.
But they struggled to contain a Marseille team inspired by Payet for long periods. The 31-year-old has created 16 goals in 36 starts this term and helped to lay the platform for a dominant home performance.
Salzburg have already knocked Real Sociedad and Borussia Dortmund out of this year's competition. They must now repeat their quarter-final heroics - when they overcame a 4-2 first leg deficit against Lazio - if they are to reach their first European final since 1994, when they were defeated by Inter Milan in the Uefa Cup.
'We not through yet' - What they said
Marseille coach Rudi Garcia: "It is a good result. We wanted to win and it's done. And doing it without conceding a goal was a good idea.
"We know we are not through yet. We will go there looking to score at least one goal and win the game. We need to show we deserve to go to the final."
Red Bull Salzburg coach Marco Rose: "We are sad. We think we deserved better. But we have no choice, we are already thinking about the return match."