Marseille: Bezahaf and Kamissoko, on their first starts, made the win at Troyes (0-2)

Without captain Timothy Weah, suspended, and Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, injured, Bruno Genesio opened his XI to two youngsters: Kelyann Bezahaf, 20, a right-back and Algeria Under-23 international; Nouhoum Kamissoko, 21, a Malian holding midfielder. Ninety minutes later Marseille had won 0-2 at Troyes, through Amine Harit and Himad Abdelli, and a run of four straight defeats was over.

The absences opened the door, and the two walked through it

Weah was serving a red card, Højbjerg was out with a muscle injury, and Genesio preferred Kamissoko to Tochukwu Nnadi in front of the back line. The call showed at the opening goal: on 50 minutes, an orientation pass from Kamissoko put Harit in position to score. Bezahaf played the full ninety: two interceptions, six balls won back, a tackle in the 89th minute. Kamissoko went off on 73 minutes with cramp. For L’Équipe, the pair “have simply been Marseille’s best players over the whole match”; on RMC Sport, Genesio called them “the two players who played with the most freedom in the first half”.

A hierarchy shifting on the right flank

“They were the two who took the most initiatives […] maybe the recklessness of youth…”, Genesio analysed in L’Équipe, adding he was “happy to see we can count on them, because we will need them”. Weah’s return still raises a question: the paper fancies Bezahaf to compete for the right flank instead of handing the shirt back. For now, it is a hypothesis, not an announcement from the coach.

Bezahaf himself stayed measured. In the mixed zone he took on the ambitions of the group: “This is the moment to show things, that we are able to help this OM, which should normally be playing at the top of the table.” And he added: “This stage will pass very quickly. We are going to climb back up, and it went through today.”

What it changes for the bettor

One win does not straighten a table: Marseille stay 13th in Ligue 1 on 6 points after six rounds. But the data point that will matter for their next odds is here: the club have just won away with a right-back who had six senior minutes to his name and a holding midfielder back from a loan at Châteauroux. If Genesio keeps the pair in the XI next time out, the pecking order on the team sheet will not be the same.

Our full read of the match, with its odds and our prediction, is still online: the Troyes vs Marseille prediction.