Marseille beat Lyon 4-1 at Stade Velodrome tonight to move within two points of Les Gones in the race for Europa League qualification.

The hosts went into the clash knowing that a defeat would effectively spell the end of their aspirations to qualify for Europe.

However, goals from Souleymane Diawara, Florian Thauvin and a double from Andre Gignac helped Les Phoceens close in on Lyon ahead of the two remaining games in Ligue 1.

Marseille raced into a two-goal lead inside the opening 30 minutes as Diawara opened the scoring, while Thauvin doubled the advantage shortly before the half-hour mark.

Lyon threw themselves a lifeline for a second-half comeback, though, as Arnold Mvuemba reduced the arrears five minutes before the break.

Mvuemba's strike was not to be the foundations of a fightback, however, as a double from Gignac all but sealed the win, while Bafetimbi Gomis bagged a consolation late on.