Nuno Tavares scored and was highly praised for his performance for Marseille on Sunday, facing OGC Nice debutant and fellow Arsenal loanee Nicolas Pepe.

Nicolas Pepe was making his debut for OGC Nice this weekend, but he was just one of many Arsenal players or former Arsenal players to be involved in the match.

For Marseille, Nuno Tavares was starting alongside Sead Kolasinac, Alexis Sanchez, and Matteo Guendouzi. Whilst on the other side, Aaron Ramsey was on the bench for Nice, with Pepe starting.

Unfortunately for Pepe, he was upstaged by Tavares. The Arsenal full-back, playing at wing-back for Marseille, scored one and was heavily involved in another as Marseille took a 3-0 lead by half-time.

https://twitter.com/btsportfootball/status/1563884883260456962

Despite an improvement by Nice in the second half, they couldn’t get back into the game in any significant sense, and the match finished 3-0.

Tavares’ performance was highly praised by GFFN, who awarded him a 9/10 rating and wrote that the Arsenal loanee was “the best player on the pitch.

“He wasn’t tested defensively, but his attacking output made the difference. Like Clauss, he gave width to Marseille’s attack and his goal consolidates what has been an incredibly bright start for the Arsenal loanee.

“He could, and maybe should, have scored more, but he can once again be very happy with his contribution.”

The statistics suggest Pepe didn’t have a bad debut for Nice, creating three chances, completing 88% of his passes, winning 8/10 duels, and earning six free-kicks for his side.

But Marseille were much the better side on the day, and it’s hard to look good in those circumstances.

Meanwhile, Tavares continues to impress with his third goal in four games, and he’ll just want the matches to keep on coming.