Olympique de Marseille won a draw in Hamburg this Thursday evening in their first round against Shakhtar Donetsk (2-2).
At the heart of an already very hectic first part of the season, the Europa League had been an ideal playing field for Olympique de Marseille. It was on the European scene that this imperfect team, then mired in the depths of the championship, had regained its health by piling up goals to regain confidence.
It is in this state of mind that Gattuso’s gang approached their round of 16 against Shakhtar Donetsk this Thursday evening in Hamburg. Beyond the unique context which forced the Ukrainian team to relocate to Germany, this meeting still seemed like a real trap for the Marseillais. Because Shakhtar is a well-established opponent in European games.
OM did not hold
The first period proved this. Well established, aggressive, the Donetsians are able to crisscross the field well to close the spaces while projecting themselves in numbers to create dangerous situations. Without shining, OM held up well despite their athletic deficit. However, we had to wait until the locker room returned to see the Olympians’ first shot on target, by Gigot – unsuccessfully (52nd).
After a big opportunity from Luis Henrique (58th), OM confirmed their ramp-up by unblocking the situation through Aubameyang. The Congolese was at the conclusion of a very good collective action by taking a cross from Clauss (0-1, 64th). Incidentally, the French international confirmed his return to form after the turbulence experienced in recent days. The problem is that the Marseillais were unable to manage this advantage for long. Four minutes later, Matvyenko equalized with a victorious cross shot (1-1, 68th).
Stung, the Marseillais found the resources to regain the upper hand at the end of the match. Aubameyang, scorer, turned into a passer to deliver a perfect ball to Ndiaye (1-2, 90th). But that was not enough since once again, the locals reacted instantly by equalizing through Eguinaldo with a header on the gong (2-2, 90th+3). Marseille will have to be content with that. The storyline is frustrating. But in these times, this result remains encouraging.
