Marseille 5 RB Leipzig 2 (agg 5-3): Dimitri Payet hits superb goal as the former West Ham star lights up thrilling tie

DIMITRI PAYET was a fitting matchwinner for Marseille on a magical night in the Europa League quarter-finals.

The former West Ham playmaker weaved through superbly on the hour to make it 4-2 on the night before Hiroki Sakai struck on the break in stoppage time to complete the French hosts' 5-3 aggregate win.

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Leipzig won the opening leg 1-0 in their bid for a semi-final place in their first ever season of European football - and could easily have triumphed by more that evening.

And three goals inside the first nine minutes of this return set the tone for a glorious, frenetic contest.

Leipzig's French striker Augustin lost the ball as he surged across the area in the second minute, but Portuguese winger Bruma buried the loose ball into the bottom corner.

But Konstantinos Mitroglou soon brought Marseille level on the night, 2-1 behind on aggregate.

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French defender Boubacar Kamara flicked on Payet's corner for Greece striker Mitroglou to bundle the ball home.

And Marseille promptly conjured a mesmerising counter-attack to go in front on the night.

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Payet peaked the move with a raking crossfield pass for Morgasn Sanson.

RB keeper Péter Gulácsi managed to keep out Sanson's both initial effort and rebound, only for Bouna Sarr to finally smash the ball in.

And Marseille thought they were ahead on aggregate too after 17 minutes.

Payet fired home a stunner - but play was called back for a foul by team-mate Mitroglou on Lukas Klostermann.

Both sides continued to raid at full pelt in one of the most exciting Europa League clashes this season.

Marseille switched to a five-man defence when Sarr went off injured on the half-hour mark.

Centre-back Adil Rami came on for Sarr, with with Luiz Gustavo operating as sweeper.

But it made little difference to the pace and intensity of the home team's attacking.

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And on 38 minutes Payet was again the provider as they went in front on aggregate for the first time in the tie.

This time his free-kick fell for Florian Thauvin to flick Marseille 3-1 up on the evening, 4-3 overall.

The French hosts turned up the pressure even more after the break.

Mitroglou dragged a gaping chance wide after the ball squirmed through to him following Leipzig midfielder Kevin Kampl's challenge.

But the Germans briefly transformed the contest again after bringing on Emil Forsberg for skipper Diego Demme.

Just 60 seconds after that change, Naby Keita drove into the box before backheeling to Augustin, who finished neatly.

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It was a rare raid from Leipzig but also a moment that showed precisely why Liverpool are bringing in Guinea midfielder Keita this summer.

But Payet got a goal that no-one deserved more to restore Marseille's aggregate advantage on the hour.

The former Upton Park favourite jinked into the area, complete with step-overs, before curling a top-corner finish of breathtaking power and placement.

Leipzig battled back gamely enough but they were outnumbered on the break in stoppage time, leaving Sakai to round off a scintillating night by rolling Marseille's fifth goal into an unguarded net.

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