Marseille have beaten Saint-Etienne 2-1 at the Stade Velodrome in Ligue 1 to move up to second in the table.

Marseille took the lead in the 22nd minute when Benjamin Mendy saw his volley bounce over keeper Stephan Ruffier.

Gianelli Imbula doubled the home side's lead four minutes later when he slotted in a cross from Rod Fanni.

Saint-Etienne were soon awarded a penalty for a handball and Faouzi Ghoulam made no mistake from the spot, putting the ball into the bottom corner past the reach of keeper Steve Mandanda.

Mathieu Valbuena came close to scoring for the home side at the end of the half but Ruffier palmed his shot over.

Saint-Etienne pushed for an equaliser after the break and Franck Tabanou came closest when he saw his powerful shot cleared off the line by Andre Ayew.

In the final minute Ayew nearly added a third for Marseille but Ruffier pushed his shot wide.