Determined to bounce back from last weekend’s heavy defeat at Auxerre, the Phocaeans made a bright start at the Stade Vélodrome, with Adrien Rabiot seeing a close-range finish ruled out for an offside against Gouiri in the build-up.
Grateful for that early reprieve, the visitors came close to a breakthrough themselves shortly afterwards, as Johann Lepenant’s powerful drive was repelled by Geronimo Rulli in the hosts’ goal.
Both sides continued to probe for an opener with half-time approaching, but Greenwood fired narrowly wide from the edge of the box as the scores remained level going into the break.
With a four-point buffer over the bottom three prior to kick-off, Nantes looked intent on frustrating De Zerbi’s men at the start of the second half, though Gouiri did spurn a glorious chance for the hosts, shooting wide from eight yards.
Undeterred by that miss, Marseille ramped up the pressure shortly before the hour mark, as Greenwood and Rabiot went close in quick succession.
Despite the Phocaeans’ growing momentum, Antoine Kombouare’s side remained a threat at the other end, and Louis Leroux nearly gave Nantes a shock lead when his close-range effort was smartly saved by Rulli.
That served as a warning for the hosts, who finally broke the deadlock with 17 minutes remaining when Valentin Rongier’s lay-off was clinically swept into the bottom corner by Gouiri.
It didn’t take long for Marseille to double their advantage, with Greenwood netting his 15th league goal of the season after cutting inside Nicolas Pallois and firing unerringly into the far corner.
That quickfire double all but ended the match as a contest, as De Zerbi’s charges extended their dominant H2H record to 10 matches unbeaten (W8, D2).
Flashscore Man of the Match: Leonardo Balerdi (Marseille)