Olympique de Marseille conceded a parity score against Racing Club de Strasbourg this Friday for the 18th day of Ligue 1 (1-1).
After starting 2024 with a rather sluggish victory in Lorraine, against Thionville, for the traditional 32 finals of the Coupe de France (1-0), Olympique de Marseille found its daily bread with its share of questions. Gennaro Gattuso ended last year with the satisfaction of having found coherent entertainment. The Italian technician therefore approaches this return phase with this tactical certainty, but he must face numerous obstacles, starting with a group cut down by injuries and departures.
OM strikes from the start
With 7 players called to join their respective teams for the African Cup of Nations, OM is the French club most impacted by the continental tournament. The fact remains that on the other side, Strasbourg had a group that was just as diminished, if not more so. The Alsatian team had every intention of making a move, less than two months after hanging on to these Marseillais during a first round made into a match of shame by Gattuso.
A comparable scenario occurred this Friday evening. Marseille, however, found the opening very quickly. With a diving header in a rather confusing situation, Samuel Gigot allowed his team to take the lead in this match (1-0, 3rd). An advantage which could have been decisive in a fairly tactical match where the Marseillais showed certain limits in terms of creativity.
Strasbourg didn’t give up
Marseille even left the ball to their opponent on certain sequences, but Strasbourg was not always able to take advantage of it. The visitors struggled to make the most of their possession phases, when they were not completely unlucky, as with this free kick from Bakwa on the bar (85th). On the Marseille side, Gigot – again (12th) – or Veretout (61st) could have made the break, without success. A turning point, certainly, since at the end of the night, Jérémy Sebas showered the Vélodrome by equalizing with an opportunistic shot on a roll of the dice (1-1, 90th+2). OM could even have lost if Lopez had not intervened in front of Dion just before the final whistle (90th + 7). This amputated team is starting 2024 very painfully.
